Friday, June 1, 2001
Friday, June 1, 2001
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who
have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
When Pierce had been elected, he and Mrs. Pierce and their son, two weeks before the
inauguration, were taking a trip to Concord, New Hampshire, and, of course, they were doing it
by train. The train had not gone far out of the Concord Station, when there was a lurch, a
jolt, and the car the Pierces were in tumbled off the tracks and down an embankment. Neither the
president nor his wife was injured in the accident, but their son was killed. Franklin Pierce
brooded over this, as would most of us. He asked the question of God that so many of us would
have asked. Why would God at this moment of triumph permit this tragedy in their lives? He was
so upset by it that he refused to allow the Bible to be used at the inauguration.
May we not let our despair move us away from the one who brings comfort.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13
NRSV)
Did you know that the first president of the United States to refuse to use the Bible at his
inauguration was Franklin Pierce? The reason is rather interesting.
Lord Jesus, take away my despair as you bring me comfort. Amen.
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