I've been taught that dead men are good teachers. For the most part we can look back at their lives objectively without the bias of modern day media. I realize there are differences in opinions of what men were like and what values they really carried in their daily lives. There are in my life three men that I have studied to some extent and I hold a fondness of. And in three days I was given the privilege of visiting the graves of these three. George Washington, Thomas Jonathan Jackson and Robert E. Lee were men that were real men in my book. All three openly loved God. All three openly love their wives. All three owned slaves. All three drank alcoholic beverages. And all three would dance.
What I've learned about these and their attention to others touches me. Yes they owned slaves, yet many free men in their day would have been envious of these servant's well being. Lee and Jackson both knew that slavery was going to end within a few years by virtue of it's own merits. Washington went as far as to free his slaves after his death. The men loved others no matter who they were. George and Martha Washington upon his notoriety and fame as a general had hundreds of strangers come to his Mount Vernon home unannounced requesting food and shelter. Total strangers were not turned away.
"Stonewall" Jackson was known to live his life with the mercy taught by the New Testament while commanding his soldiers with the Old Testament fierceness that earned him the less known nickname of General "Joshua" Jackson. His love of children was from a tender heart for others; even the men he served. Robert E. Lee had the same concern for others. His leadership was what made him famous. His men would follow him anywhere and do whatever he asked of them.
All three of these men led by example. Washington stayed at Valley Forge with his men when he could have gone home. Lee and Jackson both lived by the law they made others live by. All three prayed.
It has touched me to spend just a few moments over the last few days to learn more about three of the greatest leaders I know of.
