Until Every Drop of Blood Drawn Shall Be Paid By Another

On March 4, 1865, shortly before the Civil War/War Between the States ended, in his Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln said, “If God wills that it (the war) continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’" After living in Texas for 17 years, I know that Lincoln is not universally regarded as belonging among the greats, and I know that he did not espouse a conventional, orthodox Christian faith. However, I do think the line “until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another” gets at a basic moral principle. It echoes the prophet Habakkuk who saw a dynamic, relentless balance of justice. I know the rampant individualism of our society resists communal responsibility, but it permeates Scriptures such as Psalm 106 [both we and our ancestors have sinned] and Daniel 9 [we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly]. I alluded to this in my recent meditation on the plural pronouns in the Lord’s Prayer. http://nstolpepilgrim.blogspot.com/2018/06/plural-pronouns-in-lords-prayer.html I have never claimed the spiritual gift of prophecy, but with several life-and-death justice issues swirling about in recent public discourse, I do believe that injustices perpetuated in our time will bring on us and our descendants judgment that will persist until every drop of blood drawn shall be paid by another.