Gettysburg Thoughts

I wrote this upon returning from our trip to the east coast in July last year, waiting to see if it makes any sense. I am not sure it makes any sense but I thought Memorial Day Weekend would be appropriate for it.

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We were only able to stop in Gettysburg for a couple of hours and saw only a tiny fraction of what is to be seen there. I just learned they are building a new visitors center which they hope to have complete in 2008. I would love to get out there again after this is built.

I have been trying to think about what it is that makes visiting a battle field like that such an amazing experience. I have also questioned why it is that I so enjoy learning about war. I think this is unique to men but there is just something about it that draws me to it. Make no mistake, war is terrible. On the drive there I kept thinking about the lives and families that were destroyed in 3 days in 1863. At Gettysburg we read of two brothers who were born and raised in Gettysburg. One fought for the Union and the other for the CSA. One of these men died on the hill he grew up playing on as a boy (Culp's Hill). It is remarkable to consider and dream of the personal stories of the 46,000 - 51,000 casualties of this battle.

And yet, despite the terribleness of war, there is something inspiring, something that draws us to it. There is something inspiring about giving your life's blood for a principle. There is something inspiring about the men who obeyed orders and charged up a hill in the face of a murderous fire. Valor, courage, honor, brotherhood. These are the noble traits that are uncovered, in a unique sense, most perfectly by war.

One of the reasons, I think, that this particular war was so terrible is that it was a war fought on principle with both sides thinking that they were right and that God was on their side. Such a war must end in the total destruction of one or the other sides. This fact makes the American Civil War unique in history. At what point do the French soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars decide that conquering the world is not for them. At one point does a Nazi soldier think that serving the demented vision of Hitler is not worth it. This consideration does not cross the mind of an American Civil War soldier. They believed, on both sides, that they were defending their very way of life.

This area of Pennsylvania is absolutely beautiful. Gettysburg lies at the foot of larger mountains to the west. The land of Gettysburg rolls in anticipation of these larger mountains. As I looked at the land I marveled at the genius of soldiers who were able to survey the country side and move the innumerable men under their command into position. All of this without the benefit of modern technology to communicate. That is remarkable to me. I considered myself and know that I would be wholly inadequate for such a task.

I also have wondered if our culture can now produce the likes of men who fought at Gettysburg. I thank God for our armed forces and know that there are such men in service of our country there and in other places (police departments, etc) but in general it seems that the modern mind sees the whole thing as quite pointless. I don't think our culture can produce men who will die for principle. These men simply viewed life and death in a different way. And although we may shed tears for the lives destroyed, we are not, in our indifference to principle, superior.

I found the below quote taken from the speech given by General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at the dedication of the monuments at Gettysburg to the soldiers of Maine. If you remember, General Chamberlain was the defender of Little Round Top and is played by Jeff Daniels in the excellent movie on Gettysburg. The entire speech is worth the read. Chamberlain later became governor of Maine and from what I have learned, was an evangelical Christian. I am hoping to find out more about that. The speech is characterized by a sense of the significance of man and the longing that is within man for something higher than himself. Modern man does not speak like this because he believes he is the accident of evolutionary forces and is not significant, is not created in the image of God. I think then that as we compare ourselves to men of only 100 years ago, we can see the results of the modern idea that God is dead. This is worth some time and it may be considered later. I am thankful for what Francis Schaeffer has done to my brain in this area.

While you're at it reading the dedication speech, read also the following speech Chamberlain gave of his recollection of the surrender at Appomattox of which he was a part. It too is exhilarating.

To return to the original question, what causes us to be overwhelmed with emotion as we walk the grounds of a bloody battlefield? Here is Chamberlain's quote:

"No chemistry of frost or rain, no overlaying mould of the season's recurrent life and death, can ever separate from the soil of these consecrated fields the life-blood so deeply commingled and incorporate here. Ever henceforth under the rolling suns, when these hills are touched to splendor with the morning light, or smile a farewell to the lingering day, the flush that broods upon them shall be rich with a strange and crimson tone, -- not of the earth, nor yet of the sky, but mediator and hostage between the two.

But these monuments are not to commemorate the dead alone. Death was but the divine acceptance of life freely offered by every one. Service was the central fact. That fact, and that truth, these monuments commemorate. They mark the centres around which stood the manhood of Maine, steadfast in noble service, -- to the uttermost, to the uppermost! Those who fell here – those who have fallen before or since – those who linger, yet a little longer, soon to follow; all are mustered in one great company on the shining heights of life, with that star of Maine's armorial ensign upon their foreheads forever – like the ranks of the galaxy.

In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls. And reverent men and women form afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream; and lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls.

This is the great reward of service. To live, far out and on, in the life of others; this is the mystery of the Christ, -- to give life's best for such high sake that it shall be found again unto life eternal."

Earlier in this speech Chamberlain says that the men of Maine, "humbly submitt[ed] to that mysterious law of sacrifice and suffering for the deliverance of evil." Can it be that the sacrifices of men that inspires in the battles and wars of this fallen world is an echo of the great Sacrifice that our Creator made in submitting Himself to death, even death upon a cross, for the salvation of our souls? "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends." The overwhelming emotion that is experienced visiting a battle field is an emotion that is a type of the emotion that is drawing us to our suffering and triumphant Redeemer. These men took up arms in the defense of their lands; Jesus freely gave Himself to the oppression of those who afflicted Him and opened not His mouth. The analogy is not perfect. And yet I wonder if our fascination with war is a fascination with lives sacrificed for the service of others. In this fallen world and as long as Lord Jesus tarries, there will always be that mysterious call to take up our cross and emulate Him in His dying for the sake of our love for Him and our friends.