There’s an apocryphal story of Abraham Lincoln when he was a lawyer that has an important lesson we can all learn. Whether Lincoln said it or not, the punchline is something I will recall from time to time in other posts. Enjoy.
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Abraham Lincoln was a trial lawyer for a case that was not going in his favor. During the lunch break, Abe saw the jurors at the diner and stopped to tell them a story. He couldn’t talk about the case, so he thought he would interject some humor.
He said, “Gentlemen, have you heard about the young farm boy playing in the barn when he heard a noise in the loft?”
They said no, and with a curious look, they waited for Abe to explain.
“Well,” he said, “the boy climbed to the loft, and what he saw gave him a shock. He ran to his father as fast as he could and exclaimed, ‘Paw, you gotta come quick. The hired man and sis are up in the haymow. He’s a-pullin’ down his pants and she’s a-liftin’ up her skirts, and paw, they’re gettin’ ready to pee all over our hay!’
“The father replied, ‘Son, you’ve got your facts absolutely right, but you’ve drawn a completely wrong conclusion.'”
They all chuckled, and Abraham Lincoln told them to enjoy their lunch, and he went and got his meal before heading back to the courthouse.
Later that afternoon, the prosecution was wrapping up a very lengthy summation as Abe just watched the jury. When his turn had come, he looked at the other lawyer and then back at the jury. He stood to his feet and said, “My learned opponent has his facts absolutely right but has drawn completely wrong conclusions.” He won the case.
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It seems that a lot of social media posts are devoid of facts. But even if we spend time gathering facts to support our point of view, we can still come to the wrong conclusions. That’s why having another person’s point of view is not a bad thing. It can help us ascertain the facts that lead to the truth of a matter. Having the facts is only half of the battle. And following those facts to a logical conclusion can be swayed by our individual biases. We need to be open to listening to the counsel of others, even if those others may disagree with us.
Proverbs 12:15 “A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but the wise listen to advice.”
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