A Tragedy Becomes a Blessing

Note: Today I am going to a family reunion.  This story is written with the facts I have heard over the years at other reunions. Most of what I am telling in the story is factual, however some details are still argued to this day. I am sharing it with you in order for you to see how God turned a tragedy into something that was a blessing for me.  --RonB

It's a long and drawn out story, a story containing the tragedy of death in a family that had chosen to remain neutral in the war. The Confederates required them to register in the Army of the Confederacy as “non‐combative.” It is here that the story takes a twist that is still debated to this day. One side of the story is that the members of this family were commissioned by the Confederacy to go to Mexico and purchase horses for the war effort. They left their farms and families which were located near Georgetown, Texas and traveled through the hill country, being intercepted by a regiment of the Confederates between present‐day Kerrville and Bandera.

The officer in charge of this regiment would not recognize their written orders, and eventually chased them down with the intent of bringing them back to Camp Verde to stand trial as deserters. Neither the captors, nor their prisoners ever made it to that trial. Instead, at their camp, just south of Bandera, the seven prisoners were executed. That’s the other side of the story, the execution of deserters. Six of them were hanged; then the last of the seven, having requested to be shot instead of hanged, was granted his wish. Some citizens from Bandera were advised of the seven bodies the next day, and went to the site and buried all seven in a common grave. Sometime later a marker was erected, containing all seven names. The marker still stands.

I am (if I have counted correctly) a great, great, great, great, great‐grandson of the last man executedthat day….the one that requested to be shot. I have heard the story all my life, with all the details which have probably been enhanceover the years. Almost two years ago, having received permission of the current land owner, I directed a tour of about 40+ members from our family reunion, to a ranch which has been named “Hanging Tree Ranch.” Of the group that went to the gravesite that Sunday morning, only myself and a couple of others had ever seen the grave. Now I feel the story of my ancestors will live on, as the younger relatives will continue to tell the story to their children and grandchildren.

Here is the dilemma: Are we descendents of heroes from that war or are we descendents of deserters?Should we be  proud or should we be ashamed? I would love to be able to share in the pride of those who claim their war dead were heroes, but I cannot prove that claim. And if they really were deserters, should I be spreading the story of this ancestor which brought nothing but shame, not only for himself, but for all of his relatives down through the years?

That Sunday morning two years ago brought it closer to home for me. We all surrounded the grave and held hands and prayed. Nobody brought up the dilemma or questions about heroes or deserters. There was no mention of the possibility of skeletons in the closet. In fact, that day we prayed about how thankful we were to have the chance to pray as a family, how fortunate we were to learn more about our personal history, but specifically how happy we were to know the forgiveness that is ours in Jesus even when we commit shameful deeds or have shameful thoughts. It brought me to the point of personal inspection and the admission that as much as I want to be one of the heroes, in so many ways I have been the villain. Then I was reminded of the ancestry of Jesus. In his family tree, the line of his earthly heritage, there was Rahab, the prostitute, and there was David the adulterer and murderer. I look through the list of the genealogy of the Christ and there are numerous scoundrels in there.

None of us has lived a life of perfection. The Bible tells us we are all sinners. But it also gives hope when we learn that even though we live in sin, Christ died for us. He paid the debt we could never pay. He covers us with his own blood, and brings us to a position of “forgiven.” In the form of His Spirit, he takes up residence inside us to lead, comfort, direct, and to instruct us in right decisions and directions. We claim his gift of righteousness not because we are the hero, but because HE is. And we, individually and as his followers, can praise him for who we are and who we can become, not because of our ancestry but because he has loved us enough to make us a part of HIS family.

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