Lack & Appreciation

I have been reading Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It is a book about Lincoln's rise to position, and his ability to unite even enemies to become teammates for the greater good of the country.

I was struck by President Lincoln's history and boyhood. Particularly his passion for the written word. Education and good schools were rare and expensive. As such he, from his poor family, did not get a formal education. However, Abraham would walk for miles to borrow a book. He was always striving to learn. He always had a book with him, and whenever he had a spare moment, he was reading. "'When he came across a passage that Struck him,' his stepmother recalled, 'he would write it on boards if he had no paper,' and 'when the board would get too black he would shave it off with a drawing knife and go on again.' Then once he obtained paper, he would rewrite it and keep it in a scrapbook so that it could be memorized. Words thus became precious to him" (p. 52)

When i contrast that with today's world i see such a difference. We are inundated by words, facts, and ideas. We have volumes at our beck and call. We have only to type a query in, and we have all the information we could want... and a whole lot more that we don't. I see no one who cherishes the written word in such a way as Lincoln did. I see people who cherish their cell phone or their iPod. I see people who delight in facebook and "social connection". But, i do not see people so caught up in reading and learning that they will carry a book with them wherever they go and stop to read anytime they get a chance.

In a world inundated by words, facts, and ideas, the lack of appreciation appears to result from an inappreciation of lack.

Image from jonragnarsson used under cc license.