| Clara Barton, a Universalist who was a hero to thousands of veterans of the American Civil War, and who certainly deserves to be mentioned on Veterans/Remembrance day.
Clara Barton, the fifth and youngest child of Sarah Stone and Stephen Barton, was born on Christmas Day, 1821, in Oxford, Massachusetts, a small farming community. Clara’s mother had emotional problems and often had sudden fits of rage, so Clara was raised largely by her older sisters and brothers, who taught her to do more than most young girls did — especially in 1826! She was the baby of the family, and she loved to read, spell, and do arithmetic. Clara lived with her family on a farm in North Oxford, Massachusetts.
Every Sunday, Clara's family drove five miles in a horse and carriage to the Universalist church. Clara's father had helped to build that church and Clara never forgot the Universalist teachings she learned there. She learned that God is love, and that all lives are precious gifts that should not be destroyed.
When Clara was 11, her brother David fell from the top of their new barn and was badly hurt. The doctor said he might die. "Please," begged Clara, "let me be David's nurse! I'll take very good care of him!" Her parents agreed to let Clara try, so she stopped going to school. This was Clara's first job as a nurse and she did it cheerfully every day for two years!
When she was 17, Clara took her first job outside of home. She taught a class of 40 children, from four years old to 13 years old — all in one room! Clara heard that some of the boys liked to make trouble for the teacher, so on the first day at recess, she offered to play baseball with them. They were surprised to see that she could throw a ball just as hard as they could, and run just as fast!
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Clara was living and working in Washington, DC, when the Civil War broke out. She saw that soldiers who were coming home from the war were hungry and they needed clothes and bandages for their wounds. The government was not able to help so many soldiers. Clara saw what they needed and she used her own money to buy food and clothes for the soldiers. She wrote to the newspapers and asked them to tell people what the soldiers needed. People gave blankets, medicines, and other supplies.
Then news came from the battlefields that medicine and food did not get to the soldiers. Wounded soldiers fell to the ground and lay there without food or water. Many died of thirst or cold because there was no one to take them to the army hospitals. There were no women nurses to help them. In those days people thought that women were not strong enough to take care of soldiers or be near a war!
But Clara knew she must do exactly what most people thought no woman could do. At first the Army laughed at the idea, but Clara kept right on asking until she got permission to go to the front lines of the battle. With a wagon full of supplies pulled by four mules, she came to a battlefield in Virginia at midnight. The army doctor who was in charge was very tired and he had completely run out of supplies. Clara went to work cooking and taking care of the wounded right away. She even learned to take bullets out of wounded soldiers with a penknife! Later the army surgeon wrote, "If heaven ever sent out a holy angel, she must be the one!" After that, Clara was known as "The Angel of the Battlefield."
While on vacation in Europe many years later, Clara learned of the good work done by the International Red Cross, which helped people in war-torn cities to have the basics of food, medical care and shelter. She returned to the US determined that there should be an American Red Cross as well, to help out people whose lives were turned upside down by wars or natural disasters. She started the American Red Cross in 1881, but it was an ongoing struggle to keep the organization going, and the American government didn’t officially support the creation of the group until 1900, almost 20 years later!
In the course of her life Clara Barton went from being a shy child with a lisp to an internationally known hero who not only ran an important organization, but also spoke out publicly for women’s right to vote, and on behalf of war veterans. So this month, maybe we should combine Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving and give thanks for this “Angel of the Battlefield.” |
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Nurturing Your Spirit
Lighting special little oil lamps, called deepas, is an important part of the Indian festival of Diwali (or Deepavali). But Indians are far from the only ones who light lamps or candles as a spiritual practice. Catholic churches often have votive candles at the front of the church for people to light in praying for those they’re concerned about. Jewish families not only light the menorah candles for Hannukah (next month), they also light two candles each Friday evening to welcome in the Sabbath. And, of course, Unitarian Universalists often begin our worship services by lighting our flaming chalice! You can light a candle as a way of sending prayers, good thoughts or good wishes to someone, and you can quiet your mind and meditate by watching the flickering of a candle flame. Just make sure that anything involving fire is supervised by a grownup for safety! Or, you can light a virtual candle that will burn on your computer screen by clicking here.
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Practicing the Principles
Our UU principle for this month is our second principle, “Justice, equity and compassion in human relations.” In other words, Unitarian Universalists believe that people should be treated fairly, but that there are many times we should go beyond fairness to treat people with extra kindness and caring. Clara Barton, for instance, spoke out for the need for women to be treated equally with men by having the right to vote. But she also was motivated by tremendous compassion for people who were suffering, and wanted to bring help and healing wherever she could.
The next time you get in an argument with a friend or family member you might want to ask yourself “Is this a time when I’m looking for fairness, or a time when I can choose kindness first?” Oftentimes when feelings get hurt or we’re not getting what we want we concentrate on how mad we are at the other person or just think about how we can get what we want. But a lot of arguments can be turned around into helpful conversations by focusing on the questions “What would be fair here?” and “How can I recognize the other person’s feelings so that I can respond to their feelings with kindness?” |
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