On this President's Day, the history textbook picture of Washington crossing the Delaware easily comes to mind.
But how about these other pictures???
It was Christmas Night, 1776. The great Revolutionary War was considered to be nearly to an end and all but lost. The British Redcoats, trained, warmly clothed and large in number, had been deemed undefeatable. The American Patriots, on the other hand, were a sad lot of untrained farm boys and young men in rags led by military leaders, many not much older or more experienced than the soldiers they led. (Often forgotten is the fact that George Washington himself was only 43 and though he’d served as a noted soldier, was not a man trained in military warfare.) Though all were passionate about their infant nation and their cause, they were sick, freezing, under-clothed and demoralized. Historically speaking, The Battle of Trenton that turned the war was a last-ditch, fool-hardy effort to save face and win the glorious cause of freedom. The dangerous crossing of the river on a late December night in freezing, stormy conditions was followed by a march of nine miles through the night. Says McCullough:
A northeaster was blowing, but was beneficial to our cause because it muffled the noise of the crossing and the noise of the march south. But it also increased by geometric proportions the misery of the troops. It was very cold. What the wind chill factor must have been can only be imagined. It was so cold that two men froze to death on the march because they had no winter clothing.”
All odds were entirely against them in the battle that took place the next morning, but they won. It brought renewed confidence and determination, and they went on to win another battle in the next few days, and soon the war itself.
David McCullough eloquently states: “Character counts over and over. Personality is often the determining factor in why things turn out the way they do.” How easy it is to forget these many years later, that it was faith in God, gut-wrenching determination and sheer white-knuckled grit dredged from the bottom of their exhausted souls when things were at their worst that won the war!
With equal drama, high stakes and considered by many to also be doomed to failure, was Abraham Lincoln’s great battle in convincing Congress that the soon to be freed slaves should have full rights as citizens. His personal commitment that this be a Constitutional right (as the 13th Amendment to the Constitution) before the Civil War ended was a battle that was also nearly lost, and won only at the very end through his personal, relentless perseverance and dependence on God. The award winning movie that tells the story leaves one in awe of his power and vision.
How grand are the pages of ultimate victory! How desperate are the days and years of tears, sacrifice, humiliation, heartbreaking failure and crippling hardship that precede them.
It’s strange, isn’t it, how the Lord’s greatest blessings for individuals, families, communities and nations come only as a result of conquering and persevering through the longest of nights and darkest of days. It was true for Washington and Lincoln. It was true for Moses and Paul. It was true for Nephi and Alma. It was true for Joseph Smith and the pioneers.
Will it be true of us? What, indeed, will be said of us when we, the Lord, our families and history look back upon our own lives and how we’ve fought our own life-altering battles?
The season is here, the snow is melting and the temperatures rising. Some PCRs even bought new kits, gloves and booties to stay in shape. Did it work?
After The Storm (Winter), Who Will You Be?
Happy President's Day!
