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In Colossians 3:23, the Apostle Paul writes, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” How different would our world look if we actually took that advice to heart?
For starters, Abraham Lincoln would not have been assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.
The night Lincoln was shot, there were two Johns that played pivotal roles in the assassination, the infamous John Wilkes Booth who pulled the trigger, and Officer John Parker, a slothful D.C. policeman who could have prevented the shooting had he not shirked his duty.
Parker, a 34-year-old police officer, was a former soldier in the Union Army. He had been one of the first 150 policemen hired by the city of Washington D.C. to protect its citizens and president. Unfortunately for both parties, Parker was an awful representative of humanity in general, and law enforcement in particular.
Between the time he joined the police force and Lincoln’s assassination, Parker built quite a horrendous reputation for himself: he swore at a grocer, swore at a supervisor, insulted a woman who requested police protection, and was often drunk and disorderly. He was fond of prostitutes, but not of hard work; he was extremely negligent and lazy. Also, he would routinely fall asleep on duty…that is, after he showed up to his post tardy.
Just like on the night of April 14, 1865, when he relieved Officer William Crook three hours late.
On that fateful night Parker was supposed to position himself in a chair in the hallway outside the upstairs state box that was occupied by the President and First Lady. The private stairwell and hallway was the only way to get in and out of the upstairs room that held Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln (and Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancé).
But soon into his shift, John Parker got bored…and thirsty. Abandoning his post, he pushed his chair against the door, walked downstairs and out into the drizzle, and invited Charles Forbes, the President’s carriage helper, to have a drink with him across the street at Taltavul’s.
In irony as great as the tragedy itself, the assassin John Wilkes Booth actually took notice of John Parker from where he sat at the same bar drinking enough whiskey to conjure up the nerves to act on his vicious plan.
Moments later, Booth would rise, walk across the street, up the stairs, down the hall, and through the door that Parker should have been guarding. He would then pull out his .44 caliber Derringer, and reshape American history by killing the 16th President of the United States.
When John Parker heard the gunshot and the commotion, instead of running to the scene of the crime to help, he simply vanished into the night. He wasn’t seen again until the next morning when he showed up at his precinct in the company of a prostitute.
And that’s how laziness – and bad character all around – changed history.
Resource’s Origin:
Killing Lincoln by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. Henry Holt and Company, 2011, Pages 177-224.
Topics Illustrated Include:
Alcohol
Bad Decisions
Character
Death
Duty
History
Laziness
Murder
Police
Politicians
Reputation
Responsibility
Work
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
