The Invisible River

We all live our lives propelled forward by the currents of a great invisible river...

We take our place amongst so many others that ride the flow of the river beside us. Sometimes, two or more of us will be caught in an eddy and will circle together for a time as our lives mingle and we feed each others hopes… desires… despairs. Great and true friends will enter our lives on the current; they will give us their gifts and then flow out of our lives when we are not paying attention leaving memories that are wonderful and bittersweet. One day, each of us will reach the end of this river and flow into the great sea of our one soul.

I think of the river on this date every year…I believe that behind us on the river lie our ancestors…those who came before and set us on the paths of our lives. Ahead of us and past that next turn (where we cannot see) lies the future of our children. They ride the current that we leave behind.

July 3^rd is an important day in the history of my family and of my country. In 1863, the great battle of Gettysburg was raging during our nation’s tragic Civil War. On the third day of the battle Confederate general Robert E. Lee called for a charge against the Union center. This charge became famous in the history of the country and its climax is known as “the high water mark” of the Confederate cause. My Great-Great-Grandfather John K. Shaw was a Sergeant in the 47^th North Carolina Infantry and was in the great charge. In that assault, the Confederates sustained 28,000 casualties, or over 50% of their ranks. The day was one of the most horrible and bloodiest in the history of our people.

Every year, I return to the battlefield on July 3^rd and walk in the footsteps of my ancestor. I dress as he would have done and I carry the flag of the regiment for which he fought. My children have joined me in this ritual and there are many others who come to honor the sacrifice that was made on that day. It is an interesting communion that we have each year…The descendents of the Union soldiers wait in their battle lines and salute the confederate units with a cheer as we reach their positions. The two sides greet each other warmly with hugs and hand shakes. Then a union chaplain says a brief prayer and all those gathered (there are usually a hundred or more spectators) join in the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance.

On one of these occasions, the chaplain made note of the violence that fills our world; of the hatreds that have begotten this violence (for thousands of years without cease). He talked of the Balkans and of the Middle East. He asked all those gathered to consider the hatreds in our own land that had led to this Great War. He asked us to consider the suffering and loss that took place on this field and on so many others during those 4 years of killing. Finally, he reminded us of our warm embraces and of the general regard that we on both sides currently have for one another; of the fact that we have joined together once more as a single people and how, in so doing, we had honored those who sacrificed by a far greater measure than through any other course…no one wants to think of the river upon which their children will ride being filled with violence and hatred.

How much do we owe those who found a way to forgive and to love again after the personal suffering and loss of those horrible years? I wish there was some way to teach their lesson to those who currently pursue the murder of innocents as the remedy of past wrongs and of their own frustrations. I hope that the spirit that I honor…the spirit that brought our people back together in the years after 1865…can grow to encompass all people and that all will know the peace that we enjoy.

I don’t wait for my hope to come true in this world. I don’t believe that the turbulent waters that fill portions of this great river will ever be stilled. I will look for the deep channels…for the company of those who know compassion and forgiveness. I will ride in the channel that has been laid before me and will keep to it so as to provide as much peace and happiness for my children as I can. I will expect that true peace only once I have completed my journey and rest in the calm of the boundless sea…in the arms of our common soul.

I pray that each of you watches the river around you. That all of you do what you can to provide still waters for those who suffer. There is no knowing the damage we create when we cause ripples in the river through our own selfishness, greed, and disregard. It is for each of us to keep our part of the river safe for our fellow travelers on this journey of life.