“ It is the vocation of the Christian in every generation to out-think all opposition. ”
Lincoln had entirely outgrown juvenile delight in religious argument. Talking with God seemed to the mature Lincoln more important than talking about Him.
~ Elton Trueblood
He (Lincoln) recognized the delicate balance between immanence and transcendence, refusing to settle for either of these alone. His was a God who was both in the world and above the world.
He (Lincoln) was accustomed to hearing words, many of them boring, but he was not accustomed to group silence.
(The death of his child) was the first experience of his life, so far as we know, which drove him to look outside of his own mind and heart for help to endure a personal grief. It was the first time in his life when he had not been sufficient for his own experience.
