I know I've posted before about my great fascination and love of history! But recently, while reading 1776 by David McCullough, it has been fanned into a nice flame again! :) Matthew and I were discussing the subject of history/our country and I realized over again, how incredibly important it is to know your history. If we didn't have godly lawyers and leaders in our government, politicians could say whatever they wanted and no one could tell them that it was unconstitutional. We don't have many godly men up there, but there are some, like Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli who is not content to stand by and watch our founding documents be picked apart or laid by the wayside to be forgotten.
I think that is the scary part about things: we are in danger of forgetting the true happenings. If we don't learn the facts the way that they really happened, then any person can come along, rewrite our history books, and we'll just stand by nodding our heads senselessly. I mean, I have been fairly recently listening to Diana Waring's "What In The World's Going On Here" and many history c.d.s by Doug Philips. It is so intriguing how so many godly men have had their name smeared over the years until we hold them rather in dread than respect. Take John Smith. He has been represented as rather an ill-tempered old fogey, but when you look at his whole life, it is amazing! I'd rather listen to that c.d. over again than watch National Treasure in some ways! :) I mean, he trained himself for war in the forest, was tricked on a ship and mugged, chased down those men, then, was hired onto a ship, but (for some reason, I can't remember why) he either jumped, or was thrown into the sea, and "luckily" ;) a ship captained by the only seacaptain he knew came to his rescue. This ship happened to be going to fight the Turks, so Smith went along. He became a hero, and was feared by so many from that country for he had defeated several of their great warriors in hand-to-hand combat. He became rich......and the story just goes on. And now in this day, they would have us believe that he was so different!
It is amazing, and scary in some ways!
More than the dry facts of history themselves, what is the most amazing for me is finding all the Providences of God in the stories. The book 1776 is not written from a Christian World-view, but is solid on facts. So I began listening when the man wrote "Luckily" or "Fortunately" because I realized that was where something inexplicable was going on. Inexplicable if you are not a Christian, that is. Take General Washington's army directly after The Battle Of Brooklyn: (a.k.a. "The Battle of Long Island") They had had a humiliating defeat, with great losses. Britain had rousted them well. That battle seemed to spell defeat to Americans or the "rabble in arms". :)
To make matters worse, when they returned to the fort, a Nor'easter had just come in, and many men spent the night in the trenches waist-deep in water. Most had not slept for several days. But the Nor'easter was a providence- it kept the British ships from being able to come in between Long Island and New York as planned. General Washington and his council decided that a retreat would be the most prudent action, but they didn't want to make a big stir, so Washington sent a message to one of his generals to gather up any sort of boat they could find. Then he sent messages around the camp for all the soldiers to gather up their belongings. Many were puzzled. None knew where they were headed. General Washington had a daring plan: remove an entire army of 9,000 men, not to mention horses, guns, ammunition, etc. across the mile-wide water full of difficult currents overnight, without any noise. The men were cautioned to stay silent, not even coughing. Cartwheels were muffled with rags.
To a well-trained army, a secret night-removal is considered nearly impossible, and certainly must be for a group of such "rabble in arms" with nearly no training. One group of soldiers stayed back to make a show of activity and stirring of the campfires to make the British think that all was still well. Keep in mind, the British were camped 600 yards from the fort.
There just "happened" to be a whole regiment of Delaware soldiers who were really sailors and fishermen. The wind just "happened" change as they began so that they could go more easily. They manned the flotilla of little boats through the difficult waters, with the water sometimes only inches below the sides of the boats due to the great load they carried . One Del. soldier recalled making the crossing 11 times! But morning was approaching, and a great number of the soldiers had yet to cross the river. Washington knew that once it was daylight, they were through. The British ships would fire upon them, and the results would be disastrous. To complicate matters further, the regiment of soldiers staying behind left the fort due to misunderstood orders. They made it back to the fort and their previous positions without the British knowing. And then, perhaps the most providential happening of the night occured as the sun came up: a thick blanket of fog settled over Long Island the the water, providing a safe way to get all the rest of the army, including that last regiment across to New York, which was fog free. Right after the last boats crossed, the fog lifted, and our American soldiers could see the British redcoats standing, confounded, at the waters edge. Washington, with God's providence, had taken, with no noise whatsoever, (except towards the end an accidental firing of a cannon :( ) his army of 9,000 troops to the temporary safety of New York.
Isn't that gloriously grand? And it is so shameful that the author of the book said it was "by a stroke of luck" (or something equally insipid) that the fog blanket rolled in. There was no luck about that!
Anyway, I know I can go for hours talking about the Lord's hand in history, but my main point is just to encourage us all to study out history for ourselves. Remember God's providences. Tell the stories the real way they happened to your children. And, if at some times you feel overwhelmed by the greatness of our calling as Christians, (and as the decided minority in these days) just remember that victorious "Rabble in arms" that defeated the greatest empire in the world in the late 1700's!!! And ultimately, we must never forget, we are on the winning side! With knowledge like that, I think we can all take a chance at being courageous and winning this war here on earth!
Psalm 89:1 "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations!"
Amen? -Rachel
