The Moon Keeps Shining

Criticism is always hard to listen to.

One day during the darkest period of his presidency, Abraham Lincoln was approached by a man who kept reminding him of the anti-Lincoln sentiment making the rounds throughout the country. With brutal honesty, he related many of the attacks on the president.
Lincoln remained silent, and the exasperated man finally asked, “Mr. Lincoln, are you listening to me?”

Lincoln said, “Yes, I have heard you. But let me tell you a story. During the time of the full moon, it is the habit of all dogs to come out at night and bark and bark at the moon. This keeps on as long as the moon is visible in the sky.”
Lincoln then started walking again.
Confused, his companion shouted, “Mr Lincoln, you haven’t finished your story. Tell me the rest of it.”

Lincoln said, “There is nothing more to tell you. The moon just keeps right on shining.”
Lincoln is a good role model for us to handle criticism. As he did, we should listen and accept what is good and reject what is not and always follow our principles. See, he listened, but then stuck to his course, believing that his policies would eventually bring his critics around and unify the country.

Modified from Signs of the Times, November 2000.