When I was a teenager, our family visited the area where my grandfather grew up near Gettysburg. The Harners lived near where the battle took place.

As my grandfather talked about the Battle of Gettysburg, I realized I was hearing eyewitness accounts of the effects of the battle that my grandfather heard when he was growing up around 1900.

I was struck by how differently the effects of the Battle of Gettysburg are remembered in history compared to how they are remembered by the civilians from the area.

In history, the Battle of Gettysburg is a thrilling story of courage and sacrifice so that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth. (Please read my blog: “The Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln: Overcoming Robert E. Lee”).

Indeed, in my writings, I often praise this wisdom of Abraham Lincoln. Also, as a descendant of those who were impacted by the Battle of Gettysburg (such as my 8-year old great-grandfather), I feel a special obligation and a special right, to proclaim this lasting significance of the battle.

Nevertheless, my celebration of this idealistic victory for government of the people, by the people, and for the people, is tempered by my grandfather’s stories about the realistic devastation of the battle for the civilians in the area.

In particular, I carry with me his description of farmland that we drove past. My grandfather said, “That field was never any good for farming. It was too hard to plow because of all the metal in it left by the fighting.”

This memory is also triggered when I see the devastation in Gaza. Over a hundred years from now, who will grieve the impacts of this war begun by Hamas on October 7th 2023.

As I write this, a ceasefire is taking effect. We pray that this ceasefire will lead to a lasting peace—as the Battle of Gettysburg did.

Nevertheless, we grieve that more that 100 years from now, sad stories will still be told about the terrible impacts of this war on Israel and Gaza.

And so, I pray that the vision of the Prophet Isaiah shall be fulfilled:

They will beat their swords into plowshares

     and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

     Nor will they train for war any more.

(Isaiah 2:4)

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Why does history tend to remember idealistic victories arising from thrilling stories of courage and sacrifice?

Why do the actual participants in a war tend to remember the terrible devastation of war?

Do you believe that people will beat their swords into plowshares? How? Why? When?

Do you believe that people will not take up the sword against each other? How? Why? When?

Do you believe that people will not train for war any more? How? Why? When?

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For related thoughts, please read my blogs “Ending Violence: Embracing the Spirit of Peace”, “Ending Violence: Putting Faces with Names”, “Curtailing Force: Replacing Nails with Glue”, “Curtailing Force: The Rule of Wise Laws”, “Curtailing Force: Reason, Facts and Wisdom”, “Spilling Coffee”, “Jesus Climbs the Temple Mount”, and my many blogs referred to in these blogs.