Authors create moments of movement of thought and action. Much consideration should go into presenting ideas, conclusions, and action steps.
So, let’s consider: March is so named for the Roman god of war, Mars. March was the time of year to resume military campaigns that had been interrupted by the weather of winter. Such has been the case in warring civilizations for thousands of years. There is a great line in the movie, Lincoln where Lincoln is being counseled by a concerned citizen (Preston Blair), about the beginning of what had been a time of killing on both sides, North and South, and this timeline was all about war. In the balance was the 13th Amendment, which was passed by the House of Representative on January 31, 1865. The war continued but was soon to cease in April of that same year.
War has been with mankind since the beginning. In Lessons of War * Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, Leadership at Gettysburg © 2011 by Glen Aubrey, All Rights Reserved, the opening lines are these:
Wars are part of the human experience.
We know we must enter them.
We know how to win them.
Let us learn how to end them well.
The Civil War defined Lincolns’ presidency on a major lever. The war started before Lincoln assumed office the first time, and continued even after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, in the McLean home, April 9, 1865. Lee’s was the first of several surrenders that followed.
War’s cessation never completely heals the hurts caused by war. Scars remain, sometimes for decades. And results are seldom dismissed or forgotten. Losses mount and become at times insurmountable.
The Bible contains the accounts of many conflicts, especially in the Old Testament. For thousands of years after the concluding chapters in Malachi, including the Roman conquests of the Holy Land and many lands in Europe and beyond, war has affected virtually all of human history.
Now, as an author, you may wish to ask difficult questions and be prepared to offer your opinion in answering them. Here is a question to ponder:
What justifies war? Thousands of books have been penned on the eventuality of war, its reasons, and consequences. Whenever war looms, a question must be considered: is this movement in the right direction and for the right cause?
Why this question? Whenever conflict occurs, the morality and meaning of the cause should always come into consideration when lives are at stake.
What price freedom? What price war? The ending of any conflict, regardless of size or duration should include and be defined by “ending well.” If Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, delivered March 4, 1865, said anything, that landmark address in which Lincoln consistently and accurately quote Scripture, should say that the President’s goal was to end the war well.
The lines are immortal: “Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-men’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.’”
Finally, in the speech’s closing, with the immortal words of reconciliation and healing that are carved in the walls of the Lincoln Memorial in the nation’s capital, he set the tone for his plan for the nation’s Reconstruction.
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”
A lasting peace with all nations is a fervent hope and earnest prayer. God willing, it will be answered affirmatively for every conflict in which our nation may become engaged. That result is truly a movement in the right direction.As an author, we encourage you to be firm and explicit in offering well-thought-out opinions, facts, and perspectives. We look for authors who write truth with an eye toward problem-solving in the most peace-seeking ways. Are you that new author? Would you like Creative Team Publishing to consider your work? If so, please email your 1,000-word summary to this acquisitions email: glen.aubrey@ctrg.com and ask for a review.