This past Wednesday night we had our second ‘Stonewall Study’ at Spotsylvania Presbyterian Church. I had another full house and several new members decided to join us. It appears that this course is a popular one on the SPC schedule (due to the topic – not me) and we may be moving to a larger classroom to accommodate the growing membership. I ran out of workbooks and have to get some more produced for next week’s meeting. What a blessing indeed!

I am ecstatic about the participation of more women and several students who are not members of our church. In fact, a growing portion of the class is from outside denominations and/or congregations. That is a rarity for our Wednesday night programs and I hope that they will consider joining us after the course comes to a conclusion. (NOTE: I would love to get some of the participant’s feedback and insights and share them with you here. Attention: I know some of you “students” frequent this blog. Please feel free to email your thoughts and I’ll gladly post them online.)

We examined Chapter 1 of my book ‘Onward Christian Soldier,’ which primarily focused on the Jackson family’s ancestral background and series of personal tragedies that occurred in Thomas’ childhood. (Workbook excerpt: Question: What and who are the bases of Thomas Jackson’s Foundation? Lesson 1:  We all carry the memory of wounds we have suffered through our lives. The love we receive and the values instilled at an early age, combined with God’s healing power will determine how ugly and visible the scars that remain and how we allow them to define our character. Readings: Proverbs 10:16, Proverbs 28:1, Proverbs 22:29, Joshua 10:25)

I presented how this notion of ‘that which does not defeat us spiritually makes us stronger’ was the basis for the whole book and quoted the opening paragraph: “This is a story about faith. A story filled with the kinds of heartache and hardships that would leave many of us questioning our own beliefs. It is a love story that is filled with sorrow, testimony, hope and despair. It is a story that reaffirms the power of prayer and that all things in Him are possible. Ultimately, it is the story of a man who suffered greatly, but chose to embrace the Will of his Savior as the foundation for a legendary life.”

We then outlined the traumatic events that occurred in the first 17 years of Thomas Jackson's life:

Age 2: the death of his sister followed 3 weeks later by the death of his father
Ages 2–7: witness his mothers illness, and marriage to an uncommitted step-father
Age 7: sent away by his mother to live with an unknown uncle
Age 7: the death of his mother
Age 8 1/2: the death of his stepfather
Age 17: the death of his only brother

It is a heartbreaking list to say the least and would have had a profound affect on any teenager in his formative years. Therefore, pain and personal loss must have played a part in young Thomas’ journey toward discovering salvation. I augmented the curriculum with readings taken from Henderson’s monster bio on Jackson, as well as several letters about his mother that were penned by Jackson’s stepfather shortly after her death. (I will continue to augment our courseware with readings from a wide-variety of Jackson-related studies and publications.) These recollections presented his mother as a fine Christian woman, who clearly left a positive and lasting impression on her son. This nurturing relationship, and the fond memory and example of his mother, was also a building block in his foundation.

Our open-discussion revolved around the idea of personal tragedy and how faith can provide comfort and strength to those experiencing it. Jackson, through the sudden deaths of his family, suffered tremendous loss and ultimately had no spiritual foundation to fall back on. His lack of a religious outlet during this period most likely influenced his dark perspective on relationships and life, induced a level of resentment and anger (that may have been suppressed until adulthood), and made him an eccentric and borderline hypochondriac when it came to his personal health practices.

By examining a timeline of Jackson’s upbringing, these early dark days may explain his outward sense of awkwardness and lack of social graces, his anti-social, but academic enthusiasm at West Point, his infectious enthusiasm for religion at Lexington, and his almost suicidal ferocity on the battlefield.

Our study guide compared ‘Stonewall’ to Joshua who led Israel in the conquest of Canaan, vanquishing Jericho and other cities to bring Palestine under Israelite control. Joshua's leadership, with the divine guidance of God, was marked by courage and devotion to the law given to Moses. Through his strong faith, he reinforced the resolve and beliefs of his fellow soldiers as he shepherded his followers into battle.

Sound familiar? The goal with these early lessons is to define what makes an individual so steadfast in their beliefs and what experiences may have influenced them in the first place. I have said it many times before that my fascination with ‘Stonewall’ Jackson is not what he did on the battlefield – it is what would make a man, any man, ‘stand like a stonewall’ in the face of such carnage.

It is my belief that these untimely deaths in the Jackson family created a void in Thomas’ life that he was only able to fill after joining the Lexington Presbyterian Church and starting a family of his own. Faith became his saving grace and gave him a sense of peace that had been lacking all his life. Unfortunately, more tragedy would befall the man, but this time he would resolve them to God’s will. Most Christians share that very same sentiment. I know I do. Romans 8:28 redefined Jackson's life, as well as mine: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God."

Next week we will be discussing Chapter 2 and the character traits that defined the man Jackson was prior to the outbreak of war. I am having the best time teaching and the course material is proving to be excellent. I plan to add more scripture readings and some additional DVD viewings in the coming weeks.