Thursday, January 26, 2012

Peace

Civil; Polite
War; Open armed conflict. Hostility, struggle


Sooo, what is a civil war?
America, the land of freedom, had one.
Six hundred thousand died
I would say were slain and butchered-but in truth, more died from sickness than from wound.
Is it any wonder? Is one not the other?


Each combatant thought they were right, that God was on their side.
There was Antietam,Shiloh, Stones River, The wilderness (Twice, for good measure) and the mother of all Civil battles-Gettysburg.
So many guns fired, so many swords drawn, so much blood spilled.
But in the end, at Appomattox, the guns were silenced, the swords layed aside.
There were no harsh words, no outrageous demands, no joyous celebration.
Just an agreement that enough blood had been shed. It was time to move on and reconstruct.
Finally, there was grace, mercy, forgiveness, and civility. And an end to a crazy conflict, leaving only remorse that the battles had lasted so long, and caused so much damage.
Recently, I and she layed down the sword. Silenced the musket.