Jewells of Thought

My ideas for articles today have had to be reset. What started as a day at home ended up being an afternoon at Terre Haute. My brain isn’t really working this evening, but earlier I got to spend some time actually reading.

Reading for leisure, has not been much of a priority lately. So it felt good. The sad thing is it takes my brother’s doctor appointments for me to have time to do so.

When I saw this book my last time at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, I couldn’t help myself. “The President and the Freedom Fighter Abraham Lincoln. Frederick Douglass, and their Battle to Save America’s Soul.” Brian Kilmeade from Fox News penned this book and I was intrigued to see how he wrote and what I could learn about these two men from his sixteen chapters.

Suffice it to say when I bought this book I was still working at Fresenius. I didn’t start reading it until this year. Granted when I have books I generally read them in the order I buy them in; most of the time. However, the stack finally came down to this one.

Yet like I said the time I put towards reading it is in the car waiting on appointments to end. The chapters are kind of long so I can sometimes barely finish a whole chapter, but I did today and started a second. I love learning these little details that made Lincoln the man he was and Douglass the man he was before the Civil War became a reality.

Today I even learned Indiana was instrumental in Douglass’s life. Not necessarily in a good way, but it taught him a lesson he hadn’t learned until then. Pendleton, because of his hand being crushed would probably never be forgotten in his memory since he never gained the strength or dexterity in that hand again. Knowing that makes me sad that Hoosiers who ended up being a Free State during the war would try to fight him knowing he was a peaceful man not wanting to fight. It paints our Indiana ancestors as hateful and spiteful people. He was there to talk about his story and being an abolitionist. History can hurt, but it still needs to be taught the way it happened. I appreciate the detail Kilmeade gave to this specific detail of his amazing story.

Right now I am only on chapter 5. I do look forward to what comes from the next few chapters. Harriet Beecher Stowe was just mentioned and how her relationship with Douglass was not of total agreement but that they were able to converse unlike the man who got him into speaking in the first place. William Lloyd Garrison wanted Douglass to agree with him all the time and convert to his fellow Garrisonians.

Funny how I seem to get so busy I haven’t made time for my love of history. It’s sad, but on days like today it is amazing to read and enjoy stories that are real and even relate to the state of birth even in a disheartening way. It didn’t stop him though and I think that’s what I should remember about his brief time in Indiana up to this point in the book.

What good reads have you enjoyed lately? Does it refresh your spirit to read and make your day? Do you want to share what you learn or is it more soul time meant only to stir your heart for the day?