Can the USA be healed?

Before I give you my answer to that question, let me ask you another one: Has the USA ever been more divided than it is right now? Though it may be hard to imagine a more divided time in our history, the answer is, yes! Think 1860s and The Civil War.

The war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina just over a month after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated. There were several reasons, but most historians concur that Lincoln’s clear anti-slavery stance was the main one.

Of the 34 U.S. states in February 1861, seven Southern slave-holding states were declared by their state governments to have seceded from the country, and the Confederate States of America was organized in rebellion against the U.S. constitutional government.

The war was fought mostly in the South for four years. Intense combat left between 620,000 and 750,000 people dead. The Civil War remains the deadliest military conflict in American history, and accounted for more American military deaths than all other wars combined until the Vietnam War.

Many agree that the turning point in the war was when Meade defeated Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863). This was the bloodiest battle of the war. Pickett’s Charge on July 3 is often considered the high-water mark of the Confederacy because it signaled the collapse of serious Confederate threats of victory. Lee’s army suffered 28,000 casualties (versus Meade’s 23,000). Think of it, 51,000 casualties in one three-day battle of the war. No wonder Lincoln said in his Gettysburg address there that “…we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.”

That civil war effectively ended on April 9, 1865, when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. Confederate generals throughout the Southern states followed suit, with the last surrender on land occurring on June 23.

So let’s get back to the original question: Can the USA be healed … (again)? Based on our history, the answer should be an unequivocal, “Yes,” but if you share any of the same emotions that I do, it sure doesn’t feel that way.

What do you think it will take to heal the USA … again? The Bible has a prescription for us and it’s not political; it’s spiritual. II Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

I am confident in my spirit that nothing short of a widespread adoption of this admonition from God’s Word will bring healing to our land. Father, may it be so … before we have to fight another civil war!

Thanks for reading All About Seniors … see you next week.

P.S.: The historical content of this column, re The Civil War, is from Wikipedia.

Bill Milby is a Director of Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at https://www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA/

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