If you were “dedicated” early on, how has that affected your life? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, p.405).
From Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
...It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- 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. (Source)
After the Civil War many years passed before a new birth of freedom came for the emancipated slaves. It is clear that the living simply were not “highly resolved” in the only way that really mattered—through dedication to prolonged action. This is a lesson for any dedication service—if the attendees do not dedicate themselves to steady and long-lived resolve, then the focus will be on past efforts and not future ones. Perhaps Lincoln suspected delay arising in part from the grueling exertions and fatigue of war, so crafted a timeless speech designed for eventual germination in future generations.
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