Today I attended the monthly lunch meeting of the McLennan County Republican Women (MCRW).  Although a member my attendance has been sporadic at best.  I have reached a point in my life – a crisis of faith of sorts – that has given me pause.  Beginning in late fall events in both my professional and personal life (some under my control and some not) have caused me to take stock, re-access priorities, and what I call “get back to the basics.”  Part of this process has been to be more discerning with my free time, including limiting meetings, etc.  MCRW’s meeting today was an exception because of the special guest speaker, Representative Louie Gohmert from House District 1 of Texas, of whom I am a huge fan.  While I certainly share Mr. Gohmert’s political ideology, I also have a deep appreciation for his loyal service to his constituency; plainly stated, he votes his conscience and his constituency – a rarity among politicians today.  While speaking, he shared a story that steeled my resolve on my own personal journey.

Like most conservatives Mr. Gohmert is a fan of Abraham Lincoln, the original conservative and first Republican president.  In 1862, Willie, the president’s 3rd son, died of typhoid fever during his father’s first term in office.  Despite the attending physician’s belief he would recover, the 11 year old boy succumbed to his illness – a tragedy that left the family devastated and Mrs. Lincoln inconsolable.  A year later when President Lincoln was preparing to leave for Gettysburg his youngest son and “apple of his eye”, Tad fell ill.  Attended by the same family physician, the doctor made an eerily similar pronouncement that the boy should recover.  Against his wife’s desperate pleas and his own trepidation President Lincoln boarded the train that day and went on to deliver arguably the most noted and eloquent political speeches ever given – The Gettysburg Address.  “May we all share Lincoln’s resolve”, Mr. Gohmert concluded, ‘ . . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.'”  Amen.