Who among us has not worked at a place that perhaps had a less than best, non-professional acting, or inexperienced boss. With a career spanning any amount of time, this is probably the norm. Of course, even in entry level positions, it is often difficult to get our first ‘real’ job that shows any sort of promise, because even if we have a lengthy list of degrees and accolades from teachers, family, and friends, we have no work experience. This would hold true then with supervisors and managers as well. They do not have experience either, until they have held that position, therefore, someone is going to be the guinea pigs, and this is where we often pull the short straw, get the brunt of the situation, and reap the consequences of their lack of knowledge and know how. However, there is no amount of talking, protesting, or denial that can be done to erase this from our memories, portfolios or resumés. These are just the facts. No matter how much we detested them or disagreed with them, and probably had to quit our job to escape them, unless we were lucky enough that they moved on or learned from their own mistakes, this portion of our lives, though we try to suppress it, still exists as a part of our story.
‘Once upon a time’, is how most good stories begin, though a story can be fiction or fact. The definition of fiction by the dictionary is, something invented by the imagination or feigned, an invented or made up story. Examples of this could be children’s literature such as Nursery Rhymes or stories like ‘The Cat in the Hat’ or adult novels, such as Louis L’amour or Harlequin Romances. Works that are factual might start with the same phrase, however, they are distinct in that they are the recounting of facts, which is the dictionary definition of the word and can be in the form of a documentary or history book and are literal, and a statement of the truth of what has already happened. The definition of history per the dictionary is, recounting of facts, a chronological record of significant events, an established record, or events that form the subject matter of a history. The definition of truth per the dictionary is, the body of real things, events, and facts, actuality, the state of being the case, which is fact, verity, real, truthful, honest, or absolute. From these short word studies, we can begin to see the common thread that exists between history and truth.
‘Once upon a time’, on June 3, 1808, Jefferson Finis Davis was born in Fairview, Kentucky. He died on December 21, 1889, in New Orleans, Louisiana having lived a long life according to most standards. Being of the Democratic Party, he filled a myriad of political offices during his lifetime. He served in the United States Army as a Lieutenant, fought in the Mexican American War as a Colonel, and was a member of the House of Representatives as a Senator representing Mississippi, the state he primarily grew up in, and served as the Secretary of War, before the American Civil War. He was chosen to the position of President of the Confederate States during the Civil War, because of his already strong military and political credentials. Abraham Lincoln was his counterpart in the Northern States.
Davis was heralded as a poor leader albeit a brave and resourceful soldier. After his capture in 1865 he was indicted for treason, though he was never convicted and was later released with a full pardon. His life was riddled with financial and family problems after the war, and through struggles he landed the job of President of the Carolina Life Insurance Company, stationed in Memphis, Tennessee and lived at the Peabody Hotel which lasted around four years. Thereafter, he went on to do public speaking and later wrote his memoirs. He became wealthy during his latter days, when he was bequeathed the full estate of a widow woman named Sarah Anne Ellis Dorsey, a novelist and historian as well as a longtime family friend who was helping him write his memoirs. His funeral is said to be ‘one of the largest in the South.’ Five cities in four different southern states petitioned for his remains, but his wife chose Richmond, Virginia for his burial place. There are highways, roads, libraries, historic sites, and hospitals named after him as well as multiple statues erected in his honor. One such statue was erected in the Jefferson Davis Park in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, where he resided for many years.
However, as the face of political correctness has emerged and evolved over recent years, the park that was named in his honor, changed the name from ‘Jefferson Davis Park to ‘Mississippi River Park,’ and another close by, the ‘Confederate Park, was changed to ‘Memphis Park’ in 2013. This was done as a quick act by the city council before the ‘Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2013’ was passed. However, two years later, a loophole to this Tennessee Heritage Protection Act was found and on August 30, 2015, Jefferson Davis’s statue was removed from the Memphis Park. This is just to name one of many, now being removed around the country, because they are not politically correct in the minds of certain groups. Notwithstanding, what did this change from the past? Nothing.
‘Once upon a time’, on July 13, 1821, Nathan Bedford Forrest was born in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, and he died in Memphis, Tennessee on October 29, 1877, at the relatively early age of 56 years old. He fought vigorously in over a dozen major battles in the American Civil War, however, he is remembered as being mean, vindictive, and unscrupulous and considered a War Criminal because of the notable, ‘Massacre at Fort Pillow’ where allegedly, he ordered the killing of surrendering Union troops, though this was never proven. He was nicknamed ‘Wizard in the Saddle’ during the war, and subsequently, ‘Grand Wizard’ when he became the first national leader of the Klu Klux Klan, shortly after the war. However, in 1870, amidst thousands of convictions and indictments of Klan members Forrest denied being one. A Confederate General’s biographer, George Cantor stated, “Forrest ducked and weaved, denying all knowledge, but admitted he knew some of the people involved. He sidestepped some questions and pleaded failure of memory on others. Afterwards, he admitted to ‘gentlemanly lies’. He wanted nothing more to do with the Klan, but felt honor bound to protect former associates.” He was a rebel by nature with great tenacity, which contributed to his leadership, the good and the bad.
Being a large slave trader before the war, he became a propagator of pseudohistorical rhetoric afterward, and had to reinvent new ways to make a living. After several endeavors with the railroad, he finally settled down to run an eight hundred acre farm on President’s Island, on the Mississippi River in southwest Memphis, Tennessee, where he died in 1877 from complications from diabetes. It is recorded that his funeral was attended by over 20,000 citizens of both black and white origin, and the procession was over two miles long. He and his wife were buried in Elmwood Cemetery, but in 1904 were moved to the Confederate Park now known as the Memphis Park. In 2015, the City Council wanted to move them back to the Elmwood Cemetery, but the Heritage Protection Act of 2013 was invoked. However, they found a work around, and sold the park to a private non-profit who was not subject to that law, who shortly after purchasing the park, removed their remains along with the statue of Forrest on December 21, 2017, siting that the statue represented racism and bigotry. Their final resting place as of June 2021, is at the National Confederate Museum in Elm Springs, Tennessee, close to Columbia. Though this action was done legally according to a judge from Nashville, Tennessee, this still cannot erase truth or facts of what happened, who lived years ago, or their personal behavior or deeds, another word for this is, ‘history.’ No amount of pretending, trying to undo, or protest, can change what has already been.
‘Once upon a time’, the nutshell version of the story found in Genesis 1:1 – 3:24, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Thus, the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof thou shalt surely die. And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.” The beginning is the good part of the story; however, in the opinion of many, it goes downhill from there. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. So, God drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” Jumping ahead much further into the story we see in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” No matter how much we protest, blame Eve, and engage in name calling, those are the facts, and we cannot change them.
The Bible is a historical book. It recounts events that have already happened. However, we should never stop in the middle of a story just because we get to the bad part. We must continue reading to get the full picture. John 3:16-18 tells us the rest of the story, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” If we believe on Jesus Christ, the end of our stories can be so much different than Adam and Eve’s, even though they started this whole ball rolling. Truth be told, we cannot change history, but we can guide what history will say about us.
The commonality that history and truth share, are not only that they cannot change because they are factual, but the realization that if they did change, the ending of the story would be vastly different. In amongst the pages, in the in-between chapters of the partial story I just told, there was ‘once upon a time’ two women. One was a harlot, and one was a virgin.
‘Once upon a time’ in the nutshell version of the story of the first woman that is found in Joshua 2:1 – 6:25, goes like this. “And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into a harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, there came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: And the men answered her, our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. Now Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye swore unto her. And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred and left them without the camp of Israel. And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.” Rahab was instrumental in saving the nation of Israel that day and she and her family were saved in return. Flipping the pages to Matthew 1:1-5, we see the rest of her story. “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse…” Rahab thus became a part of saving not only a nation, but the world. History and truth are living organisms, they create cause and effect in time. Now that you know her story, and you are still offended by her being a harlot, and would want to change history, remember, John 3:16 would also disappear.
‘Once upon a time’ in the nutshell version of the story of the second woman found in Luke 1:26-35 and Matthew 1:16-23 goes like this. “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore, also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” “And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” As Rahab,Mary became a part of saving the world. Now that you know her story, are you offended by the fact that she was too young for such an important role, or that the Father of the Christ child was the Spirit of God and not Joseph whom she was engaged to, and would you want to change history, aka truth? If you do, John 3:16 would also disappear.
As we saw in the beginning of this article, in our examples of the two confederate soldiers, their lives are a part of history. Their stories are set in stone. However, consider this for a moment. If you are in agreement with those contemplating changing history regarding Jefferson Davis and Nathan Forrest’s lives as well as the Civil War, then the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution ratified by Congress in December of 1865 goes away as well. For brevity’s sake, so that you can make an educated decision on this question, the 13th Amendment says, in Section 1. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” And inSection 2. “Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” This was the finalization of the Emancipation Proclamation for the freeing of slaves, made by Abraham Lincoln in 1862. I for one think we should leave history well enough alone here.
Ultimately, ranting, raving, and protesting will not change history, truth, facts, or our past either, however, we can pave a new path for ourselves going forward. We can leave a legacy that will be an exemplary statue for generations to view and reflect on, and not one that they want to have removed. Because of Rahab and Mary, we can be used of God today, despite our weaknesses or past, and make a difference in the future of our world. Don’t let avid bookworms hear this, but truth be told, we have skipped to the last chapter and last pages of our story, and we already know the promises to usward, if we stick to the script and we see the punishment to those who try to change it. Revelation 22:16-21 says, “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He which testifies these things saith, Surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” It is a monumental day to remove all doubt, fear, and uncertainty about your future from your minds and begin rewriting your story, because the back of the book records the facts, the absolutes, the immutable truth, ‘We win’!