Tag Archives: Ulysses S. Grant

Chapter-a-Day

A Fresh Revisiting of the Story

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A Fresh Revisiting of the Story (CaD 1 Chr 1) – Wayfarer

“Adam, Seth, Enosh…”
1 Chronicles 1:1 (NIV)

I remember one of my first reports in school was to write about a President, and my report was on Ulysses S. Grant. Few people know that this was not his name. His given name was Hiram Ulysses Grant. When he was registered at West Point a clerical error listed him as Ulysses S. Grant. Rather than go to the trouble to have it corrected, he just went with the flow.

My study of the famous Civil War general and 18th President back then portrayed Grant as arguably the worst President in history. I remember being rather shocked by this revelation and by the fact that seemingly no scholar had anything good to say about him or his presidency.

Last year I read Ron Chernow’s recent biography of Grant and was fascinated to find a very different take on the man than what I had read when I studied him in my youth. It’s fascinating how our perceptions of past leaders can change with time along with the experiences of history.

One of the things I’ve heard casual critics bemoan about the Bible is the repetition. For example, today our chapter-a-day journey wades into the book of 1 Chronicles, which is largely the same story we read in the books of Samuel and Kings. I get it. To the casual reader, the repetition seems unnecessary. But is it? Sometimes a historian revisits history from a different place in time and finds a fresh perspective and lessons that are needed in that place at that particular moment in history.

The author of Chronicles is writing at a tenuous moment in history. The nations of Israel and Judah were defeated and taken into exile in Assyria and Babylon. Years later, a remnant of exiles returned to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple under the Persian Empire which ruled the entire region. In the quiet this morning, I tried to place myself in the sandals of those who have returned to rebuild. Everything has changed.

They once had their own nation, then two nations, that are no more. There is no Hebrew king. There is no heir of David on a throne. What does it mean to be God’s people now? Does God even have a plan for His people? Do their faith and their traditions mean anything anymore or was it all a mirage?

What’s fascinating is that I find very relevant and contemporary sentiments in these questions at this moment in history. I hear voices in our culture disparaging Christianity in total and arguing that the world would have been better without it. Current generations have deconstructed their faith and are now trying to find their way through the rubble. We live in a time when technology and information are bringing more wholesale change at a more rapid rate than at any time in human history.

Does my faith mean anything in this time and place? What is God doing? Is God even a part of the equation? If so, what am I to make of it all?

It’s in asking these questions that we go back to the Story itself to seek answers. We start at the beginning and look at the Story with a fresh perspective. That’s what the author of Chronicles has done. He is writing hundreds of years after the books of Samuel and Kings were written. From his precarious moment on history’s timeline, he is revisiting the entire story from all the sources at his disposal to share with his generation.

And so, he goes back to the beginning. He starts with a genealogy. Here is the cast of the Story, of history. A man had a family. The family became clans. Clans became tribes. Tribes became nations. Nations became Empires. But it started with family. My family. Our family.

In the quiet this morning, I feel the call of the Chronicler to join him in revisiting the story once again. Eyes open. Heart open. God, give me a fresh perspective to help guide me through this current stretch of my journey.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Disloyalty and Criticism

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The king then asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?”

Ziba said to him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather’s kingdom.’”

Then the king said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.”
2 Samuel 16:3-4 (NIV)

I recently mentioned in a chapter-a-day post a gentleman whom I met who had served under five different U.S. presidents while working for the Department of Commerce. His favorite, he told me, was Harry Truman who always made a requested decision in a timely way and was always on top of the many details necessary to carry out the office well. His least favorite, he added, was Dwight Eisenhower whom he observed was on the golf course more than he was in the oval office and who seemed to avoid the politics and details the job required. His observations came to mind again this morning as I read the chapter.

As a history buff I’ve heard it said that military generals, with the exception of George Washington, make poor presidents. Politics is messier than the military. People don’t have to obey your every command. You can’t just give orders, you have to persuade and cajole those who disagree with you. U.S. Grant, who had the dogged determination to order his armies forward no matter the defeat, was the right man for the job in bringing the American Civil War to an end. He has been, however, generally regarded as one of the worst U.S. presidents in history.

As I read the story of David, I find it fascinating that this theme of difficulty moving from military command to political power appears to be apt, even in antiquity. David was a great military leader, but his leadership as a monarch reveals tragic flaws that echo the reflections of Eisenhower by my acquaintance. Absalom stole people’s hearts because he would take the time to listen to their cases and grievances while David avoided the responsibility and kept people waiting. Despite his genuine desire for God’s blessing on his people, David appears to have been more interested in personal pursuits than in national problems.

In today’s chapter, David is on the run for the second time in his life. This time, he’s fleeing his own son. David’s scandals have decimated his approval rating. He has few loyal followers left. As his monarchy collapses around him, people’s true feelings come to light and we see two examples of it in today’s text. I found the contrast between David’s response in the two confrontations found in today’s chapter interesting.

Mephibosheth, the handicapped son of Saul, had personally been shown favor by David. Now that David appears to have let the throne slip through his fingers, Mephibosheth repays David’s grace with disloyalty rather than gratitude. There is a power vacuum and Mephibosheth is going to try and make a play to grab power for himself. David responds by rescinding his former kindness and giving Saul’s holdings back to Saul’s servant, Ziba.

Shimei the Benjaminite lets out his frustrations with David in an annoying one-man protest in which he screams his disdain for David and hurls stones at the king. Unlike Mephibosheth’s disloyalty, which was a personal dishonoring of David’s kindness, Shimei’s verbal and stone assault comes from pent-up frustration with David’s leadership, scandals, and the resulting fallout. Perhaps David recognized the truth in Shimei’s criticism. David turns the other cheek and won’t even let his loyal guard force Shimei to be quiet.

Today I’m thinking and pondering the criticism and confrontations we all face. There is a difference between Mephibosheth’s selfish power grab and Shimei’s frontal assault. There’s a difference in David’s response. Nevertheless, Jesus never made such distinctions in his command to forgive others. His parables and Sermon on the Mount instruct me to forgive both hurtful verbal criticism and a very personal slap across the face. For the record, He experienced both.

In the quiet this morning, I’m taking a little inventory this morning of those who’ve been critical of me, and those who’ve caused me injury. I’m thinking about my own life, leadership and the blind spots that have given others good reason to be critical. I’m considering my own responses and searching my own heart to ask if I’ve truly forgiven them.

 A Note to Readers
I’m taking a blogging sabbatical and will be re-publishing my chapter-a-day thoughts on David’s continued story in 2 Samuel while I’m taking a little time off in order to focus on a few other priorities. Thanks for reading.
Today’s post was originally published in May 2014.

Today’s featured image created with Wonder A.I.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

“…Don’t Scare Worth a Damn.”

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 Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.
Ezra 4:4 (NIV)

I’m on the road this week for business. I rarely sleep well when I’m on the road. My brain is buzzing from long days of meetings with our client and it is often hard for me to shut down my brain long enough to sleep. I have found that one of the things that help me sleep is to have something familiar playing quietly near me like a favorite audiobook or documentary. Last night, it was Ken Burns’ documentary, The Civil War, that accompanied me to my dreams.

As I woke this morning the nine-part documentary was still playing as it told of how Ulysses S. Grant was able to finally defeat the Confederate General, Robert E. Lee. Lee had successfully defeated a long list of Union generals before Grant. Lee’s army was severely outnumbered and his resolute strategy was to discourage the Union’s resolve to wage war. It was working. When Lee won a battle, the Union’s response had always been to retreat. When Grant lost a battle, however, he refused to retreat. Grant continued to march his army forward no matter the cost or casualties. As one of his soldiers said, “Ulysses don’t scare worth a damn.”

I then read today’s chapter. The Hebrew exiles have begun construction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the repair of the walls. Their regional enemies, however, fear a rebuilt and powerful Jerusalem. So, they set out to thwart the rebuilding. Their strategy? Much like Robert E. Lee, they set out to discourage the Hebrews and break their resolve to rebuild.

In the quiet this morning I’m reminded that God’s Message tells me, as a follower of Jesus, I am engaged in a Level Four spiritual struggle. With the resurrection of Jesus, my enemy’s defeat is made certain, but it did not break my enemy’s resolve. Along my life journey, I have found that the enemy’s strategy is basically the same as Lee’s and the same as the Hebrews’ neighbors in today’s chapter. The enemy wants to discourage me, to diminish my faith and break my resolve to trust and obey the One I follow.

Will I retreat like a long list of Union Generals who always backed down despite overwhelming odds in their favor? Or, will I continue to march forward in the face of an enemy who continually works to discourage me from that resolve?

As I ponder this morning, I can’t help but desire that it would be said of me in the spiritual realm: “That Tom Vander Well. He don’t scare worth a damn.”