Elder Sterling W. Sill, Part Three - Mason Weems and the Question of the Cherry Tree

 Choose your link for Part One, Part Two, Four, Five, Six, Seven, or Eight - bountiful selections!

 

We're on to the third reference in this talk - the second of three very close together - but each deserves its own little discussion in my book.

One of Abraham Lincoln's favorite books listed in "Medicine for the Soul" by Elder Sterling W. Sill was a book about George Washington by Mason Weems. 

 

The Quote

"The two most powerful books in Lincoln’s life 

were, first, the Holy Bible, 

which even in his youth he hungrily devoured before the open fire, 

and second,  

The Life and Memorable Actions of George Washington 

by Mason L. Weems."

 

This was, in fact, one of the first biographies of George Washington, published soon after his death. It includes the infamous cherry tree incident, which practically passed into cultural myth.

When I read it, honestly, I gag a little. The style isn't modern at all - it's over-the-top sweetness and syrup. I remember being raised on that story as late as the 1970s.

I do in some sense appreciate the historical response these days to even out the myth-making with more accuracy and realism today - to acknowledge that life wasn't as idealized as authors like Mason Weems made it out to be- although he claimed it was a true story, there's no substantiation for it.

But history's a little funny that way - there's no going back to see the truth of that time, and although there's some irony in illustrating a person's honesty with a false story, I can't agree with biographers of today who insist in going overboard and casting the Founding Fathers and others in some very unflattering light, often judging them by today's standards when they were a product of their time, just as we are.

Also, we should consider the results of this focus, which inspired a young boy in Springfield, Missouri, to read and dream, and one day become President himself. I wonder if that would have happened if he'd gotten hold of a book that focused instead on Washington's slaves and his wooden false teeth and his high breathy voice instead of his bravery and honesty.

I like to choose to see God in people in history, whenever possible, because that's how I would want to be remembered myself. Where was the good in them? 

We're all a mix of good and bad - but our focus is our own. Do we focus on the worst of people, or the best?

What would you say is the wisest course?