“Ought Not It To Be A Merry Christmas?”Several years ago a movie about the Civil War entitled Glory played in theaters across America. It told about the first company of African-American soldiers of the ...
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“Ought Not It to Be a Merry Christmas?” Several years ago a movie about the Civil War entitled Glory played in theaters across America. It told about the first company of African-American soldiers of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry led by Commander Robert Shaw. Shaw and a great number of these brave soldiers gave their lives fighting for the Union cause. The following is a brief quote given by Shaw at Christmastime in 1861. Shaw’s statement reflects the downhearted mood of young men spending Christmas away from home for the first time. It is Christmas morning and I hope a happy and merry one for you all, though it looks so stormy for our poor country, one can hardly be in merry humor. Every December many in our world desire to find the true spirit of Christmas. Robert Shaw was down in the dumps because a brutal war had taken him from all the outward circumstances that brought him joy at Christmas. He missed his home, his family, and his friends. One of the most famous newspapers of the Civil War period was The Harper’s Weekly. A soldier wrote an article after marching on Christmas Day in 1863. He said, “Ought not it to be a Merry Christmas? Even with all the sorrow that hangs, and will forever hang, over so many households while war still rages; even while there are serious questions yet to be settled—ought not it to be, and is it not, a merry Christmas?” “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 | |
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