Blessed are the peacemakers...
(Matthew 5:9a)

     Once when Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was a lawyer, a rich man hired him to sue a poor man who owed him $2.50. Lincoln tried to talk the rich man out of suing the poor man. Nevertheless the rich man insisted on suing and threatened to get another lawyer for the job if Lincoln refused to assist him. Lincoln took the job and charged the rich man a fee of ten dollars and demanded that it be paid immediately. Lincoln then went to the poor man and gave him $5.00 with instructions to show up in court and pay the money he owed. The poor man promptly showed up in court and paid the $2.50 and had an extra $2.50 to boot. Lincoln made $5.00 for his time and the rich man got his $2.50. Peace was made and everyone was happy.
     Proverbs 12:20 says that "to the counselors of peace is joy." Let us, therefore be like Lincoln, and be a peacemaker that we may have joy and "be called the children of God" (Mt 5:9b).