Category: Gratitude

Major Ballou letter

There is, perhaps, no better illustration of this commitment to principle and honor than is seen in a letter written by Major Sullivan Ballou of the Union Army. He penned it to his wife, Sarah, a week before the battle of Bull Run, July 14, 1861. They had been married only six years. These powerful words still touch my soul.

My Very Dear Sarah:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days—perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more….

I have no misgivings about or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American civilization now leans on the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing, perfectly willing, to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this Government and to pay that debt….

Sarah, my love for you is deathless: it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break, and yet my love for country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on, with all these chains to the battle-field.

The memories of all the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most deeply grateful to God, and you, that I have enjoyed them so long. And how hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen our sons grown up to honorable manhood around us.

If I do not [return], my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battle-field, it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless, how foolish I have often-times been….

O Sarah, if the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you in the gladdest day and in the darkest night, amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours—always, always: and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, or the cool air cools your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

Sarah, do not mourn me dead: think I am gone, and wait for me, for we shall meet again….

Sullivan

Major Ballou was killed one week later at the first battle of Bull Run. I wonder, don’t you, if he did indeed utter Sarah’s name as he lay dying on the battlefield. She undoubtedly suffered the greater pain in the aftermath of that terrible war.

James Dobson printed in newsletter from Focus on the Family; March 1994

Psalm of Thanksgiving

Psalm of Thanksgiving

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Thy name, O Most High
To declare Thy lovingkindness in the morning,
And Thy faithfulness at night.”         Psalm 92: 1-2

 

O Lord, thank you for the solitude of these moments,
For the quietness that soothes my mind from the busyness of the day.
Thank you for these moments of interlude between those of action
That allow me to reflect and remember.

Almighty are You, O Lord,
Yet Your lovingkindness and faithfulness are for all generations.
For in Your goodness you have created a place for us,
A place in creation filled with the beauty of the rose and the freshness of the dew.

Your creation reminds me of the gentleness of Your hand, dear Lord.
The rhythms of the seasons teach me of the forces you have set in motion,
Those motions of change set in a secure movement of divine fashioning.
For in the uncertainty of this world I can trust in the sovereignty of Your will.

O Lord, thank You for Your hand of fashioning.
That way in which You gently form and shape our souls,
For the joys and sorrows in this present time
Which move us from simple creature to eternal being.

Gracious are You, O Lord,
For the way You provide us with companions for this journey,
For the gift of relationships that care and support us,
For the pictures and experiences of love in the here and now
that remind and teach us of Your great eternal love for each of us.

Your grace reminds me of Your wonderful faithfulness, dear Lord.
A Rock before all others, unmovable, that speaks of abiding truth.
For I can place my confidence in You, O Lord,
For Your lovingkindness and faithfulness are for all eternity.

lem: 11/7/2010

“Cornucopia’s Whispers”

A Thanksgiving reflection on the “Horn of Plenty” and those less fortunate.

 

“Cornucopia’s Whispers”

A curious shape with open mouth and twisted tail
Spilling forth the harvest fruits as if to say,
“There is no end to the desire for more.”

Enormous even for a bearded Capra
The horn resounds with peals of plenty
To boast the efforts of the earth.

Unusual even more than name
A mouthful at that to say
Which speaks of abundance and overflowing grain.
Brought forth by Heaven-sent sun and rain.

Now rarely seen but at Autumn’s end,
Except for old images of yesteryear, and then
Today replaced by desires of mine,
No place for gratitude, I’ve not the time.

Could there be empty “horns of plenty?”
There must be, though I’ve not seen one.
Somewhere dark and empty, lonely and forgotten they must be.
Abundance lay far away, too far to see.

The image of the empty somehow calls to me.
With open mouth and dusty tail
Need cries a hungry wail
Of hopeless days for many, I see.

What would it take
To fill the empty horn?
To hear its forlorn peal
And bring a blessing to those torn?

The will to act and to abide
With gentle touch and kindly words
With struggles to understand and stand beside
The loveless and forgotten and ignored.

Yes, one of curious shape and funny name
But still it wisely whispers just the same
Amidst my stillness which I adore,
“Abundance could become… so much more.”

lem (23 Nov 16);  (revised 27 Sept 19)

 

 

October Musings

October arrives and brings its unique joys… the fervor of football, homemade chili laced with freshly diced onions, chilly mornings accompanied by the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, crisp bites from a juicy McIntosh, the crunch beneath the feet from freshly fallen leaves, a Silvan palette of bright yellows, crimson reds, and tawny browns. Squirrels busily gather their acorns preparing for the approaching winter; while avian visitors pass through on their way to warmer nesting homes. Yet it remains a restful time, a time of pause, to reflect upon the events of Summer and anticipate and prepare for Winter’s uncertainties.

     It is a reminder to me that some of the best things in life are the most simple ones that really do not cost very much. That is to say the happiest people are those who are satisfied with what they already have.