In honor of my favorite president!

I gotta say, Abraham Lincoln is one person I can't learn enough about! For example, in a conversation that allegedly took place between Abe and his best friend, Joshua Speed who, upon finding Lincoln reading the Bible, laid a hand on his shoulder and remarked, "I am glad to see you profitably engaged.""I am profitably engaged," was the affirming reply."Well, if you have recovered from your skepticism, I am sorry to say that I have not.""You are wrong, Speed," said Lincoln, looking up from the pages of his Bible. "Take all of this book upon reason that you can, and the balance on faith, and you will die a happier and better man."

Three things particularily struck me about this exchange:

1. For starters it's very apparent that Lincoln believed the Bible and relied on Christ as his strength.

2. Lincoln's statement speaks into the cooperation of reason and faith. Christianity is not unreasonable. It doesn't require blind or stupid faith. It requires a reasonable faith. That would be, as Lincoln described it, a faith that travels along with reason until reason can go no further, at which point faith goes the rest of the way alone. That says that faith is not antagonistic to reason, it's just that reason alone isn't enough.

3. Joshua Speed, who was Lincoln's best friend, did not share Lincoln's belief. This is a good example for us, because we usually tend to gravitate, especially with best friends, to people who support the same belief systems we hold. We might have acquaintances that are not believers, but rarely best friends. It's a great example of the kind of friendships I believe we as Christians need to cultivate—relationships of mutual respect with unbelievers.

So who's your favorite president and why?