let me congratul all of those who have help to make thi wonder vision a realiti __PUNCT__
but we gather here todai not to celebr a build __PUNCT__
we gather to celebr a man __PUNCT__
what is it that make lincoln such a semin figur in our stori __PUNCT__ how is it that thi man __PUNCT__ born in the backwood of kentucki __PUNCT__ with littl formal educ __PUNCT__ home and awkward __PUNCT__ a man given to depress and wrack with self __PUNCT__ doubt __PUNCT__ might come to repres so much of who we ar as a peopl __PUNCT__ and so much of what we aspir to be __PUNCT__
some of it ha to do with the trajectori of hi life __PUNCT__
in hi rise from poverti __PUNCT__ hi self __PUNCT__ studi and ultim masteri of languag and of law __PUNCT__ in hi capac to overcom person loss and remain determin in the face of repeat defeat __PUNCT__ in all of thi we see a fundament element of the american charact __PUNCT__ a belief that we can constantli remak ourselv to fit our larger dream __PUNCT__
some of it ha to do with the sheer energi of the man __PUNCT__ the railsplitt __PUNCT__ ax __PUNCT__ in __PUNCT__ hand __PUNCT__ look out at a frontier of hope and possibl __PUNCT__
lincoln believ deepli in the american spirit of innov and explor that accept no limit to the height to which our nation might reach __PUNCT__
in all of thi __PUNCT__ the repeat act of self __PUNCT__ creation __PUNCT__ the insist that with sweat brow and callous hand and focus will we can recast the wilder of the american landscap and the american heart into someth better __PUNCT__ someth finer __PUNCT__ in all of thi lincoln embodi our deepest myth __PUNCT__
it is a mytholog that drive us still __PUNCT__
and yet what separ lincoln from the other great men ha to do with someth els __PUNCT__
it an issu of charact that speak to us __PUNCT__ of moral resolv __PUNCT__
lincoln wa not a perfect man __PUNCT__ nor a perfect presid __PUNCT__
by modern standard __PUNCT__ hi condemn of slaveri might be consid tent __PUNCT__ hi emancip proclam more a militari document than a clarion call for justic __PUNCT__
he wasn't immun to polit consider __PUNCT__ hi tempera could be indecis and moros __PUNCT__
and yet despit these imperfect __PUNCT__ despit hi __URL__ perhap becaus of a pain self __PUNCT__ awar of hi own fail __PUNCT__ etch in everi creas of hi face and reflect in those haunt __URL__ of thi essenti human of hi __PUNCT__ when it came time to confront the greatest moral challeng thi nation ha ever face __PUNCT__ lincoln did not flinch __PUNCT__
he did not equivoc or duck or pass the challeng on to futur gener __PUNCT__
he did not demon the father and son who did battl on the other side __PUNCT__ nor seek to diminish the terribl cost of hi war __PUNCT__
in the midst of slaveri dark storm and the complex of govern a hous divid __PUNCT__ he kept hi moral compass point firm and true __PUNCT__
it serv us then to reflect on whether that element of lincoln charact __PUNCT__ and the american charact __PUNCT__ that aspect which make tough choic __PUNCT__ and speak the truth when least conveni __PUNCT__ and act while still admit doubt __PUNCT__ remain with us todai __PUNCT__
lincoln onc said that __PUNCT__ charact is like a tree and reput like it shadow __PUNCT__
the shadow is what we think of it __PUNCT__ the tree is the real thing __PUNCT__
at a time when imag all too often trump substanc __PUNCT__ when our polit all too often feed rather than bridg divis __PUNCT__ when the prospect of a poor youth rise out of poverti seem of no consequ to the power __PUNCT__ and when we evok our common god to condemn those who do not think as we do __PUNCT__ rather than to seek god merci for our own lack of understand __PUNCT__ at such a time it is help to rememb thi man who wa the real thing __PUNCT__
lincoln remind us that our essenti great is not the shadow of sophist or popular __PUNCT__ or wealth or power or fleet celebr __PUNCT__
it is the tree that stand in the face of our doubt and fear and bigotri __PUNCT__ and insist we can do better __PUNCT__
todai we come to celebr not a build but a man __PUNCT__
and as that man call onc upon the better angel of our natur __PUNCT__ so is he call still __PUNCT__ across the ag __PUNCT__ to summon some measur of that charact __PUNCT__ hi charact __PUNCT__ in each of us __PUNCT__ todai __PUNCT__
