Epigraph

There is a balm in Gilead,

To make the wounded whole.

—African American Spiritual, “There is a Balm in Gilead”

See him at the seashore

Preaching to the people

Healing all the sick ones

Amen, Amen, Amen.

—African American Spiritual, “Amen”

For our trust in the healing root or in the strength of the vine,—what is it else than a belief in thee, from whom all that surrounds us derives its healing and restoring powers.

The Sorrows of Young Werther, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

—Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln