I am now reading And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham. And enjoying it as a wonderful biography. I’m only a little past Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858 now but so far I’ve been very pleased with the book. I also think it contains important lessons for us.

Like us, Lincoln lived in interesting times. The country was very divided. The question then was slavery. There were others but that was the big one.

I’ll try to put what divides us now in a single word. Elections. Some people think it is OK to overthrow the results of an election with violence (see what I’ve written on the January 6 insurrection .

In many states election deniers are running to supervise elections and are willing to overturn the decision of the voters to declare the winner their preferred candidate. See Arizona secretary of state race for an example). In my state of Pennsylvania, one governor candidate is an election denier and will likely appoint another election denier to run elections.

So this election is an important one. Get out and vote (if eligible) and please consider how your vote might influence the future of elections.

I got a bit off topic there and you are probably wondering what this has to do with Lincoln or this book. My point was that he faced different issues but saw that these divisions endangered the future of the country. Something to consider as you vote.