The God of Our Ancestors [Proper 11A - Genesis 28:10-19a]
The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Genesis 28:10-19a The God of our Ancestors I never met Lemuel Menear. And I never will. Because he died a long time ago. He died far away from home and family. He died in Andersonville, Georgia, in Camp Sumter. Lemuel was one of 13,000 Union soldiers, prisoners of a civil war, who died surrounded by unbearable human suffering, amidst sickness and starvation. He died in a prison historians have called “hell on earth.” He was fifty-five years old. Lemuel left behind his wife and daughters and all he loved. To fight. For his nation? For unity? For the ideals of freedom and equality? For the future? Because he had no other choice? I’ll never know his reasons. But I do know that he departed the rugged mountains of West Virginia never to return. I never met Lemuel, but when his great-grandson died, I wept. ...