Rising Spirit Of the North

We found this letter from a Civil War soldier in an old family Polyglot Bible that belonged to my great grandparents. We're not sure who the writer is, but it's a good bet that he was at least an old friend of the family. Sorry about the formatting. The writer didn't have much truck with spelling, punctuation, or paragraphs.

This is not really a story about attention. This is a story about this one girl in the front row. Let me explain.

From Reverend Claude Warren’s memoirs, circa 1959. Some of the language and attitudes sound dated today, but they reflect a real progressive attitude at the time this was written. Rev. Warren was my grandfather. One of the southern preachers he worked with was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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We are all one people. We are home.

We are all in this together and the more clearly we see it the better off we all will be.

The sun rises, so also do spirits. The sun is implacable in his path. Some spirits are rising faster and higher than others. It’s nothing to get all proud of. Or envious of.

Rank and privilege and riches and power are there for those who devote themselves to finding them. Peace and love and happiness likewise are all there as well for those who devote themselves to finding them.