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Bringing Sandwiches to War
He brought sandwiches to war.
Henry Wilson was a Senator for Massachusetts from 1855 to 1873. He was a smart, talented man who was also a strong abolitionist and did far more to combat slavery than most of his peers. Although he was certainly not perfect (under a law he drafted African American soldiers were payed approximately half of what their white counterparts made), but he cared about institutional injustice and fought against it in his life. I say these things to frame what I am about to say. Henry Wilson was also a naïve fool.
Wilson and many others in the North believed that the first battle of the Civil War (the First Battle of Bull Run) would be symbolic of the war to come. They believed that the Union soldiers would easily defeat the Rebel troops, beginning a cascade of victories for the Union which would in turn lead to final victory in about six months. In fact, Wilson and others were so confident that the Union would win the First Battle of Bull Run that they decided to travel and watch the battle so that they could see the victory first hand. Wilson, like a parent at a soccer game bringing orange slices, even brought sandwiches to give to the Union Soldiers afterwards. However, things did not go as planned. The Rebel troops quickly routed the Union soldiers who retreated chaotically, crashing through the observers’ picnic, even allegedly destroying Wilson’s carriage by accident. Those who believed that the Union would win the battle that day were resoundingly wrong. However, they were correct that the battle would (at least partially) serve as a symbol for the war. The Rebels were stronger, more entrenched, and more tenacious than the Union ever expected. Henry Wilson, with his basket of sandwiches, was a naïve fool, and so am I.
What is a fool? In the book of Proverbs, the fool is a different character than the wicked one or the unrighteous one. While the wicked or unrighteous knowingly flaunt and rebel against the good way the fool simply does not understand. Take Proverbs 18:2 for example, “a fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” However, this lack of understanding is not simple ignorance for Proverbs calls the even the wise to learn more. Rather, foolishness is resistance to gaining new understanding. Although this behavior feels less egregious, Proverbs consistently describes the consequences of the fool’s actions in similar terms to the wicked or the unrighteous. For example, Proverbs 10:14 says, “the wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.” Whether your actions are motivated by malice or simply by a lack of knowledge and understanding they can have the same effect on those around you.CONTINUED
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Bringing Sandwiches to War
Henry Wilson was a fool for not recognizing the strength and determination of the Confederacy and the enormous power of racism that created a bulwark for its beliefs. Given his personal inexperience as a subject of slavery and racism Wilson had not learned this lesson in his own life; however, he could have listened to those who had those experiences. Even more easily, he could have looked to the near death beating a Southern Senator gave to another Senator for speaking against slavery. There were any number of signs Wilson could have seen and was a fool for not heeding them.
I am also a fool. I am a fool for believing that over time racism will naturally fade and that the changes required to our current society are tweaks. I have believed that there are no powers working against the striving for a world that looks more like the world to come. I have believed these things despite continuous voices around me saying otherwise, voices of those who know more than me, but in my pride I have refused to understand. I have been bringing sandwiches to war. I have waited politely for stubborn and vile sin to leave of its own accord. I have picnicked while precious lives were lost and the battle was thrown into confusion. However, I see more clearly racism’s power in preserving the status quo and the incentives against meaningful change. I see that our Enemy takes delight in sowing discord in order to prevent justice from reigning. I see that our society needs more than a new coat of paint to fix our ills. However, now our foe wears no uniform, but is rather the air we breathe. It is the stories our society tells. It is the lessons we learn as we grow up in the world. In order to defeat this foe, there is much work to be done, which I believe our Father wants us to do as we hold repentance in our hands. But something must happen before that work can begin.
To my fellow fools, we must stop bringing sandwiches to war. We must recognize the magnitude of our foe and the depth of its entrenchments.