Greetings from Russell's Remnant:
To: Mrs. Lydia Bixby
From: Executive Mansion
Washington, D.C.
Dear Madam,
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the alter of Freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
The preceding letter was written on November 21, 1864, by, then President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Here again, as in his Gettysburg Address, Mr. Lincoln so succinctly and eloquently addressed and delivered the correct message. Mr. Lincoln, as Russell Whitesell pointed out to his audiences, had a great command of language. This great command was developed in Abe’s previous life as Cicero – the Roman statesman and orator. As Cicero, he taught himself to speak by putting rocks in his mouth and standing and speaking at the seashore. He learned to speak correctly and be heard over the sound of the waves. As Cicero, he studied the effect that certain words had upon people and learned to select the right word to elicit the meaning and feelings he wanted to convey.
As Russell would say, Mr. Lincoln was not given this communication skill, he earned it and worked hard to attain it. Remember that what happens in this life is not the result of this life but of a previous life. Also as an initiate (Lincoln took the same initiation as Jesus took) he knew the great importance of motherhood. As Russell always cautioned women, "Your role is to be the mother of a Christ." Every mother has that responsibility. He felt that one of the greatest expressions of God’s love could be found in the love a mother has for her child. He felt that mothers have a great responsibility to each child, a responsibility that very few mothers ever equate with being the mother of a Christ.
As some of you know, Dr. Russell Whitesell has been a priest for many lifetimes. He came through the priestly line. He was canonized as St. Jacapone da Todi. (His feast day is December 25th.) His poetry of that life, only now being understood, rivals Dante as the greatest poet of that era. In that life, he also wrote a great Catholic hymn – The Stabat Mater. In that hymn, Russell placed himself at the foot of the cross as Mary – writing about the great pain that the Mother of the Christ must have been going through as she watched her son crucified. Russell, too, knew about the great love that a mother can have for her child – the potential Christed one.
Russell often pointed out that man has to be refined by being in the presence of women. He stated that certain cow towns in the old wild west of America were tamed by the presence of women, wives, and mothers. When such a lady walked down the street, the drunken brawling men would stop their fighting and tip their hat to the lady as she walked by. So men, tip your hat to the ladies who have refined you. And ladies, maybe if you could re-evaluate your important role, we might end up with many more initiates and eventual Christs.
Whether it is Abraham Lincoln, Jacapone da Todi, or Russell Whitesell, initiates know the importance of learning to communicate properly as well as being a mother. In Lincoln’s letter and da Todi’s hymn, both are manifest.