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29/07/2017
A short reflection and prayer with Rev Dr Lesley Carroll.
Last on
Sat 29 Jul 2017
05:43
´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4
Prayer for the Day Script - Rev Dr Lesley Carroll
Good MorningÂ
Where I grew up there was a saying about people who are stubborn – you couldn’t change his or her mind, she’s like Stonewall Jackson. As a child I thought Stonewall Jackson was a symbolic nickname. I didn’t know he was a real person, a General in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Jackson is considered to have been a talented commander and one of the people he depended on was a less well known woman – Belle Boyd.
Belle Boyd was a spy during the Civil War, gathering information from Union soldiers to give the Confederate Army an advantage. She was known by other names - Cleopatra of the Secession and Siren of the Shenandoah.Â
On this day in 1862 Belle Boyd was arrested by Union soldiers and imprisoned in Washington DC. She was released a month later but fearing for her safety she fled to Canada.Â
While she was in Canada love turned the course of history for Belle Boyd. She met a Union officer and they fell in love, moved to England, got married and after her husband’s death, she became an actress to support her daughter. Later she went back to the States where she died in 1900.
Like millions of people, Belle Boyd is one of those largely invisible figures in history but she does illustrate for me that love can change the course of a person’s life.
Lord remind us that love can change the course of history, breaking down walls between enemies, and allowing them to become friends. Â
´¡³¾±ð²ÔÌý
Where I grew up there was a saying about people who are stubborn – you couldn’t change his or her mind, she’s like Stonewall Jackson. As a child I thought Stonewall Jackson was a symbolic nickname. I didn’t know he was a real person, a General in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Jackson is considered to have been a talented commander and one of the people he depended on was a less well known woman – Belle Boyd.
Belle Boyd was a spy during the Civil War, gathering information from Union soldiers to give the Confederate Army an advantage. She was known by other names - Cleopatra of the Secession and Siren of the Shenandoah.Â
On this day in 1862 Belle Boyd was arrested by Union soldiers and imprisoned in Washington DC. She was released a month later but fearing for her safety she fled to Canada.Â
While she was in Canada love turned the course of history for Belle Boyd. She met a Union officer and they fell in love, moved to England, got married and after her husband’s death, she became an actress to support her daughter. Later she went back to the States where she died in 1900.
Like millions of people, Belle Boyd is one of those largely invisible figures in history but she does illustrate for me that love can change the course of a person’s life.
Lord remind us that love can change the course of history, breaking down walls between enemies, and allowing them to become friends. Â
´¡³¾±ð²ÔÌý
Broadcast
- Sat 29 Jul 2017 05:43´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4