Of all the Washington, DC monuments, the Lincoln Memorial is my favorite, anchoring one end of the National Mall. Excerpts of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address and his second inaugural speech are engraved on its marble walls. Lincoln is seated in center position, a commanding presence, the burdens of America’s Civil War etched in his face.
Alan Paton (1903-1988) visited the Lincoln Memorial in 1946 as he was writing his groundbreaking novel, Cry, the Beloved Country. The story is set in Alan’s homeland of South Africa, ruled in those days by strict racial separation called apartheid. He wrote about his visit to the monument, “I mounted the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with a feeling akin to awe and stood there a long time before the seated figure of one of the greatest men of history, surely the greatest of all the rulers of nations, the man who would spend a sleepless night because he had been asked to order the execution of a young soldier. He certainly knew that in pardoning we are pardoned.”
Alan’s novel became a national best-seller, controversial in South Africa for its vigorous opposition to apartheid. The story line features two men, one Black and one White, bound together by murder and the power of repentance and forgiveness. His book is full of biblical allusions. The main protagonists, with biblical names, are earnest Christians. Christian themes of suffering, forgiveness and hope play prominent a role.
Alan wrote other books, including Instrument of Thy Peace, a series of twenty-one meditations on the prayer attributed to Francis of Assisi, “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.” It features several written prayers of his own, including this one: