"I can't spare this man, he fights."

One thing I have been given an abundance of time for in Mexico is reading. I often spend hours a day reading if I can find a good book to read. That has often been the biggest challenge. Finding interesting books to read. We actually came down with quite a few, but those didn't last long. Luckily enough we were sent others and I was able to find some of interest at the school library. Recently, I have been engrossed in finishing the books Joy brought back from her spring break trip to the States.

I love history and had asked Joy to bring me back some interesting history books from the States. I think she bought anything that said bestseller on it. Anyway she did a good job, I have moved through several of them in the past week including "1776" and "The Americn Civil War". I often find good histories as encourging to my personal spiritual walk as books centered on religion. Watching and learning from the lives of great men, Lincoln and Washington among others.

 

 

One thing I really enjoy doing as I read is collecting quotes. I highlight them and try to memorize them, much like I would Scripture. Today as I was reading, one quote just about stopped me in my tracks. It was the title of this post, "I can't spare this man, he fights." This quote was uttered by President Lincoln in reference to U.S. Grant.

For those who might not know the history of the Civil War, my favorite, Grant was a man who often rubbed people the wrong way. He was accused at times of having a poor temperment, stubborn, somewhat abrasive, and at times suffering from a bit of fondness to drinking. Definitely weaknesses that don't always endear you to people. Anyway, some around Grant took their complaints about him directly to Lincoln, even calling for him to be removed from the field. After hearing their complaints, the quote above was Lincoln's response.

I thought for quite a while today about this quote on my daily walk. At this time in history, Lincoln was surrounded by generals who were in many ways proper, even Christian gentlemen, but they wouldn't fight. Grant on the other hand knew what his commander-in-chief wanted and he dove headlong, sometimes unadviseadly into the fight. He was a man always looking for the fight. It was for this reason, that despite personal flaws, Lincoln wouldn't dare part with this man. It was for this reason, that he became President just a few terms after Lincoln. He fought.

Then I thought how great would it be if this would be said of me. We all have our personal flaws and on close introspection, as history often gives us, all of us would have weaknesses exposed. The question is, "Would we have such a strenght exposed." History generally doesn't record the personal flaws of the other generals of Grant's day as they do his, but it generally does record one thing about them. They were all hesitant to fight when called on by their leader.

I hazard to say that I think I have met many with outwardly impeccable manners, but lacking a will to fight. I personally would love to achieve both, but first and foremost I hope I can be called a fighter. When I think about this quote, I hope dearly that my friends/family can say this about me. I hope my employers can say this about me. Most importantly, when I am looked down upon by God, I hope he can say this about me.