by Sean Busick

“Teach him he must deny himself,” said Lee.  That was the general’s advice to a young mother who brought her infant to him after the War Between the States to receive his blessing.  In his classic four-volume biography R. E. Lee, Douglas Southall Freeman chose that as the single incident that best exemplifies Robert E. Lee’s message for the young men and women of the South in the reunited nation.  Lee himself, through four years of war, followed by surrender and subjugation, was the very model of Christian self-denial.  Though written in the early twentieth century, Freeman’s biography of Lee contains a vital message for the young men and women of today.  Lee, especially as presented by Freeman, provides an excellent model for young people to emulate.  Freeman’s Lee shows us how to live.  He shows us how to face both triumph and adversity with courage, humility, and grace. [Read more...]