God and Gettysburg

         Welcome back.  I hope my post finds you well.  

In 1982 I took an Old Testament class at seminary.  My professor lectured about the Hebrew slaves crossing on dry land and the Egyptians drowning in the sea.  At some point during the lecture, he peered at us over his black, thick framed glasses and said, "God loved the Egyptians as much as he loved the Hebrews."

          I do not recall any further commentary from my professor.  When I think about it, a truly supernatural God could have done just about anything to avoid drowning an entire army.  God might have raptured the Egyptians into the sky and set them down anywhere:  Thebes, Alexandria, Ramsesville, Ur, Nineveh, or Teotihuacan in Mexico. 

          If Yahweh/Elohim turned the Nile River into blood, surely God could have violated any number of natural laws just to avoid drowning soldiers who were obeying orders.  God can turn chariots into chopsticks, right?  God can raise a wall of fire around Egypt until the Hebrews entered the Promised Land, right? 

My professor said something a follower of Jesus would say.  He discerned scripture through the life of Jesus the Christ.  

     When I look at the world in that way, I am forced to rethink the meaning of what I see.  Indeed, if God's love is akin to a father or mother's love, then the interpretation of scripture takes on a whole new meaning.  

          Today is Independence Day.  I think about the loving nature of God a lot when July 4th rolls around.  We celebrate two births on July 4^th.  We celebrate the birth of our nation and the time when our nation was born again.   It is on this day that the Confederates lost at Gettysburg and at Vicksburg.  Both losses signaled the ultimate outcome of the Civil War, and “a new birth of freedom” that would follow.

     During holidays, I have my own tradition that I have developed over the years.  For instance, every Christmas I read "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens just to be reminded that “Want” and “Ignorance” are the greatest enemies of humanity.  I also love reading a terrific story that is slightly different from all the movies.

          I have a tradition for Independence Day too.  I watch Ken Burns' excellent documentary The Civil War.  I do this primarily because of the three day battle at Gettysburg.

          I can imagine myself being there, being terrified, sitting among the trees in the tall grass, waiting for General Longstreet to give the order to Major General Pickett to attack the Union lines.

          I like to think that in 1861, I would fight for the Union, the good guys, the ones on the side of truth, justice, and the American way; but I am realistic enough to know that my sense of justice today may not necessarily translate to another time. 

        Rarely does unanimity of feeling and thought exist in the hearts of men.  Robert E. Lee despised slavery, but he would not fight against Virginia even after President Lincoln offered him command of the Union forces.

        I imagine myself despising slavery, yet loving Tennessee.  I imagine myself ridiculing Southern politicians in the same way I ridicule them today when they are so absurd, yet I see myself marching to stop an army that invaded my homeland. 

        I imagine were I the reader then that I am now, I would have stood with Frederick Douglass.  I would have read his autobiography and agreed with him.  I sympathize with those who are oppressed, and I would have been woefully conflicted.

       Abraham Lincoln said both North and South believed in God.  He said that both could be wrong, but both could not be right. 

      Maybe both sides were wrong.  Where were the beatitudes then?  Where was, “turn the other cheek”?

     The United States had the opportunity to abolish slavery in 1776, but the blindness of Mammon and Power prevented good Christian men from doing the right thing.  So a judgment fell upon the nation.  The country sowed the wind and reaped the hurricane.  The Civil War destroyed a lot of wonderful human beings because both sides forgot their God was a God of love. 

     God loved North and South.  Yet I know Faulkner was right when he wrote, “For every Southern boy fourteen years old, not once but whenever he wants it, there is the instant when it’s still not yet two o’clock on that July afternoon in 1863…”  God loved North and South, but humans pushed themselves into a place where they could not turn back.  I very easily could have died then and there: hating slavery, hating the Southern government, wishing Jesus would stop the senseless murder.

      In those last few moments before the battle, the terror must have been unbelievable, the pressure to obey orders insurmountable, and the presence of God very very very real in the hearts of soldiers on both sides.  Like other violent times in history, the God of love waited there, wanting history’s march to resume toward that day when love, peace, and justice reign.

     I pray everyone had fun today remembering the birth and rebirth of our nation.  I hope many terrific memories with family and friends were created today. 

     Visit me here again tomorrow.  Blessings…