The Uncommon Man

History has been punctuated by the lives of certain uncommon men. The first life I wish to celebrate is Abraham Lincoln. He was born February 12, 1809, two days after the birth of Charles Darwin. These two men could not be further apart in their situations of birth. Charles Darwin was born to a family of privilege and Abraham Lincoln was born to a Kentucky family of poverty, hard working farming parents who lived in a log house with dirt floors. As Charles Darwin had the finest formal education of his time, even at Cambridge university, Abraham Lincoln only had 18 months of formal schooling. His formal education was largely self-taught from extensive reading of any books he could acquire.

This uncommon man, Abraham Lincoln, ran for the legislature in Illinois at the age of 23.  He was elected to the state legislature in 1834. After the victory, he borrowed money to purchase his first suit.  He ran for congress 5 times and was elected in 1846. In 1860, he was elected President of the United States and in 1864 was re-elected. During the depths of the Civil War (more than 17000 books have been written about him), perhaps Americas most uncommon man became President of the United States.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on Tuesday, May 29, 1917, to a family of wealth, whose father was ambassador to the court of St. James. In 1943, during the height of the pacific world war II military action, the boat on which he was a commander was struck by a Japanese ship and he was in the water for 13 hours before being rescued. Like Lincoln many years before him, he was assassinated in 1963.

William Wilberforce was born in Hull, England on August 24, 1759. Through his efforts alone, the slavery trade that had engulfed England, was forever driven from England. Again, this shows what an uncommon man can do.  Wilberforce was born 100 years before, to the day, the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species in 1859.

William Booth, founder of the salvation army, was born April 10, 1829 in Nottingham, England. He was first ordained as a Methodist minister, he found early in his ministry, even as a teenager, that there was little empathy in the Methodist church for the poor and homeless to which he ministered on the streets of London. So, with the help of his wife Mary Moss,  who came from a family of wealth, they established salvation army shelters throughout London, and before he became blind in 1899, would walk around London with a sign on each side which read on one side “I am a fool for Jesus” and on the other side “whose fool are you?”

As the salvation army assumed its present day dictum of rank, he was known by royalty, and worldwide, as General William Booth. Once, when sending out a telegram to the salvation army churches around the world, in order to save money, he just put one word “others.” General booth was a most uncommon man, he died totally blind on August 20, 1912. This writer had the privilege of visiting one of the churches in London on the anniversary of his death in 1982.

There are many other uncommon men of whom I could speak. Many of whom I have had the privilege of knowing. My cousin, a little older than me, who calls, often tells me how blessed we are to have known some real men in our lives. Men who honored God and country, who had a real love for family and community.  I saw this one day in a way I could never forget. My wonderful mother had died in the hospital of cancer in the earlier morning hours and I had driven my father back to the beautiful family home. It had large lawns and green pastures in which they lived for nearly 50 years, raising four children and entertaining relatives and friends as the bulwark of the community. The news had gone around of her death and slowly relatives and friends began to arrive. My father had one favorite cousin about his age, active in the community and the church, both of whom had wives who so loved one another. The cousin walked in the house, went over and sat next to my father on the sofa, and not one word was exchanged between them. Both knew that they were together sharing one anothers' loss and there were no words to be said.  Both were uncommon men.

It is an uncommon man who has the patience and fortitude to keep working as an artist, architect, physician, mechanic, or any of the other life activities where there is little recognition.  It is much more difficult to wait than it is to work. But by working, many times the wait becomes worthwhile when appreciation is finally noted. Many artists, writers are never appreciated until after their death. Many of the world's greatest talents were never discovered and no monetary reward was ever received while alive. It is the uncommon man who persists in his talents in spite of little recognition and low pay.

Thomas Edison, who had a six grade education persisted in his electronic discoveries although he failed many times. He failed a thousand times trying to produce the incandescent light bulb.  When someone asked why he persisted he said “I know that thousand attempts did not work.”  How many times has a scientist peered into a microscope, working long hours when others his age are “out on the town”, because he is convinced that he can find an answer.  How many hours of practice did the great musician endure because he knew that practice “makes perfect.” The specialist in any field appreciates perfection even though the public may be satisfied with “mediocrity.”

It is the uncommon business man who values his reputation more than profit. When he meets his customer on the streets he wants to look in his eyes and know that he treated him honestly even though the customer could have been compromised with defective merchandise purchased from a less honest business person.

“The eyes are the windows of the soul”

My eyes have been totally gone (my eye doctor tells me there their has been nothing functioning inside my eyes for a very long time, that they are completely dead). I am a totally disabled veteran, but before I became blind, and so can you, see sincerity and honesty in the eyes of the person with whom you have contact. Someone has said you can tell if a man loves his wife, because in a group, she is the first one he looks for when he approaches the group.

One famous psychological experiment involves small babies. You have five babies laying in a row, five adults will show attention to the babies and then leave the room. One of these five adults will put a “sugared” nipple to the mouth of each baby before he leaves with the other four. On returning to the room all the babies will look at the one who had the sugar. This shows human nature in infancy. Technology has changed the world, but human nature has stayed the same. There are still uncommon men and women around us and we have to believe most are born not made.