Clearly Communicated

Pvt. Robert N. Jabo of the 8th New Hampshire Infantry was dying of tuberculosis in Washington’s Harewood Hospital.  One day this Civil War soldier was visited by a distinguished guest: Walt Whitman, a well-known poet, journalist, and essayist.

Whitman regularly visited injured and dying civil war soldiers in the hospital.  He was known to share snacks and money.  He would also sit and write letters for the wounded soldiers.  When visiting with Pvt. Jabo, he offered to write a letter for him.  Being illiterate as well as very sick, Jabo gratefully accepted his offer.

The letter that Whitman wrote for Jabo was recently discovered in the National Archives by Catherine Cusack Wilson, a volunteer on a team preparing Civil War widows’ pension files to be digitized and placed online.  Wilson recalls, “I'm looking through the file, and I see this letter, and I start reading it.”  On the back, she found a surprise: "Written by Walt Whitman, a friend."

"Ah!" Wilson said she exclaimed. "Look what I found!"

The head of the National Archives, David S. Ferriero, sent a scan of the letter to Whitman scholar Kenneth M. Price of the University of Nebraska.  Price is co-director of the Walt Whitman Archive and an expert on Whitman's handwriting.  As Price read the letter, he noted the unique way in which the letters w, c, and I, were written, true to Whitman’s form.  He also noted how a plus sign was often used instead of the word “and” – another characteristic of Whitman’s style.  Whitman's signature in the letter was also found to resemble other Whitman signatures, Price said in an email.  Thus, the letter appears to be authentic.  It is one of only three of such letters by Whitman in existence.*

So a famous poet helped a dying soldier communicate with loved ones – something the soldier could not have accomplished on his own.

When we were dying in sin, God desired to communicate His love to us.  He not only expressed it in the words of the prophets and inspired writers of Scripture; He came to us in the person of His Son, Jesus.  “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

He loves us so much that He wants to save us from sin and give us the gift of eternal life (John 3:16).  But to save us, God gave His Son to die on the cross for our sins (1 Peter 2:24).  His love was clearly and unmistakably communicated by the only sufficient Sacrifice – the sinless Son of God – who was the only One who could pay the debt for our sins for us.

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

God will save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7).

His communication of love and mercy is abundantly clear.  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Won’t YOU accept His offer of salvation and eternal life on His terms?

-- David A. Sargent

* Source: “Letter written by Walt Whitman for Civil War soldier discovered.” Published March 11, 2016  by the Associated Press as viewed at www.foxnews.com

David A. Sargent, Minister