Any serious study of the civil war will quickly turn up the importance of faith in so many of the men’s lives. And you don’t have to dig very deep to see who had the strongest faith of them all.
It was Stonewall Jackson.
There were so many fascinating characters who had important roles in this tragic conflict in our nation’s history, but to me, Stonewall Jackson was the greatest.
Not so much because of his military accomplishments (though they were stunning!). Not so much because of his humility (though he never took credit for anything but the bad stuff – even when it seemed to have nothing whatsoever to do with him). No, he was who I consider the greatest because of his close relationship with Jesus Christ. He considered Jesus to be the most important person or thing—period, in his life. And, as a result, he lived with absolutely no regrets and absolutely no fear of dying.
It was known that Stonewall would also go to church each week and ask his good friend and pastor, Rev. H. M. White, “What are my orders today?”
And I’m not making this up!
Period.
Most pastors would give their right arm for a Stonewall Jackson in their congregation. I’m fortunate to have more than a few!
But we could always use more!
Have you decided to make this trip next year with your son? Only a few of you responded on the blog I posted here. I want to hear from at least 40 more of you! Leave a comment here or go to that previous post (click here) and add to the list.
Then, if you are really, really, really lucky, I might have some marching orders for you.
* Because of the great misshap at Camp Lurecrest, I obviously did not get to take this week to post about my trip with Nathan to Gettyburg (with leadwithcharacter.com) so I will try to take this coming week for that purpose.
Stay tuned. Lots of good stuff!