Edward McVey threw back a swig from his canteen and swooshed it in his mouth. He looked up through a clearing and back down where the sun rays lit up disparate spots on his fellow soldiers and the ground. They enjoyed the shade that all the trees provided on a hill known as Little Round Top. His unit, the 20^th Maine Infantry Regiment, found themselves present on the second day of a great battle near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during the Civil War.

Most of the men sat as they had marched all night and day to reach their assigned spot. Quite a few consumed their ration of hard tack and salted pork while a few stole a quick nap, and one or two checked and double-checked their ammunition.

Edward saw the old man, as they called him, sitting with his back to a tree and sharpening his bayonet.

“Hey, there, old feller. I never had nobody tell me to sharpen my bayonet.” Edward said. “Just my sergeant saying I’d never need it.”

The old man looked up from his work with the stone and steel. “What’s your name, son?”

“Ed McVey,” he said with conviction. “From Bowdoin, same place as our commander.”

“I’m Bimael Wickham, but my friends just call me Bim.”

Bim reached out his hand to shake, and Ed returned with a firm grasp.

“I haven’t seen you much before,” Bim said.

“Well, I just joined the regiment last week. I wanted to come sooner, but my mother said I had to wait until I turned 17.” Ed lifted his arms wide. “Here I am to save the day.”

Bim chuckled. “Let me guess. You’re a city boy.”

Ed, taken aback, said, “How can you tell?”

“Just can. You stand and talk like a city boy.” Bim returned to working the end of his bayonet on the stone. The scraping sounded slow and steady. “And never seen fingernails so clean.”

“Mind if I sit with you?” Ed asked.

Bim pointed to another tree right next to his.

“Yeah, I’m a city boy. My parents run a general store. My father met our commander a time or two in town, but I never had the pleasure.” Ed fidgeted with his ill-fitting uniform. “You ever meet Colonel Chamberlain.

“Oh, yeah. Plenty of times. Been with the regiment from early on. All the ways back to Fredericksburg.”

“What about you? Where you from and how, um, uh—”

“How old am I? That what you trying to ask?” Bim asked, stroking his beard mixed with gray and brown.

Ed nodded.

“Oh, I’m about 45 these days. Got me a cotton farm south of Lewiston. My wife and four daughters keeping it running, I suppose.”

Ed looked over his left and right shoulder to make sure no one could hear him. “You think we’ll be in the thick of it today,” he whispered.

“No doubt. I hear there’s a whole regiment from Alabama down the hill just itching to come right through this spot,” Bim said, using his bayonet to point to the ground.

Ed lifted his seated body slightly as if to get a better look down the hill.

“Nervous?” Bim asked.

“Nah. Just want to be ready to kill them rebels,” Ed said. He grasped his musket with both hands.

Bim leaned toward him and whispered. “It’s ok if you’re scared. Wouldn’t be normal if you weren’t.”

“When do you think they’re coming?” Ed asked. He tugged at the neck of his shirt.

Bim shrugged. “I think we got a bit. When you see them messengers running in and out of here, that means something is about to happen.”

Ed shook his head. “You so calm just rubbing that bayonet. That ’cuz you been through so much fighting?”

“Nope. I know we’re in for a big fight. Some of these men here are gonna die today. Good men. But I know where I’m going, whether my time’s today or some other day.”

“What do you mean? Go where? To some hospital?” Ed asked.

Bim grinned slightly and shook his head. “If I catch a ball, then I’ll go meet my maker. That’s a real trip home. My permanent home.”

“Oh, you’re one of those religion types,” Ed said with a nervous laugh. “I don’t believe in that stuff. My daddy said all that church stuff’s a waste of time.”

“So, you never been to church?” Bim asked.

“Nope. No need.” Ed grabbed the breast of his coat with both hands. “I’m plenty respectable. My daddy said, ‘If a man does an honest day’s work, he’s got nothing to be worried about because he’s a whole man.’ He said that to me and my little brothers our whole lives. Said all I got to do is do my duty.”

Bim lifted his bayonet and gestured it toward Ed. “No disrespect to your daddy, but what happens after you die?”

Ed gulped.

“Most of these men here are good men. Come from good families. Fighting to keep the Union together. Free them slaves. They’re just like you. Afraid to die. But what if you didn’t have to be afraid to die? What if you knew where you were going after you die?”

“I won’t lie. I sure don’t want to die. My daddy doesn’t believe in no god, but my momma would say good people go up to Heaven when they die. I’d ask her about bad people. She’d say, honey, you don’t want to know.” Ed leaned his musket against the tree and took out his canteen. “So, I think I’m a pretty good person.”

“How good?” Bim asked.

“I mean—”

Bim cut him off. “How good is good enough? How can you be confident?”

Ed shrugged. “Don’t know. Guess I just have to try as hard as I can.”

“You ever read any of the Bible?” Bim asked.

“Not really. My grandma had this old one. Pages darn near falling out. She’d take it out and show us dates with when her ma and pa were born and when my mother and uncles and aunts were born. Had this black cover. Real big book.” Ed held out his hands as if holding the Bible open. “She read some sentences out of it. There’s this one story about this feller that threw a rock or something and killed this giant. I liked that one.”

Bim smiled. “What if I told you the story of that book?”

“No offense there, Bim, but that was a mighty, big book.”

Bim looked at him with steely eyes. “Listen, Ed. I mean, that whole big book has one story. If you understand that story, you won’t need to be afraid to die.”

“Well, I sure wouldn’t mind something to keep me from thinking about them rebels down there.” Ed thumbed down the hill.

Bim stuck his bayonet in the dirt. “My family didn’t own a Bible when I was a boy, but my pa taught me this story walking around our farm. That same farm I have now. My pa came over from Ireland, and he learned the story from his pa. He taught me how to use places on the farm to remember all the parts of the story and keep’em straight and in order.” Bim picked up the bayonet and stabbed different parts of the ground to mimic parts of the farm.

“It’s like that story your grandma read to you about that feller with the rock. We had this pile of rocks at the end of the field from clearing them out during plowing. He’d say when you see these rocks, think of the boy David, picking up one of these rocks, slinging it around, and hitting that big tree. That big tree is the giant, called Goliath. Then we’d keep walking to the next location. You see, we had dozens of these locations.

“When we got to the hog house, he said to imagine this young man having to eat with the hogs. Then look across the way and imagine his pa praying for him to come home. You see, that was another story.”

Ed cocked his head. “So, this Bible is just a bunch of these stories?”

“Nope,” Bim said. “It’s a story with a bunch of little stories, and poetry, and wise sayings, and something called prophecy about things that will happen. It’s mostly the story of how God created us people and how he wants us to have a relationship with him.

“You see, the bible was written a long time ago by a bunch of authors. You have this Old Testament that talks about God’s chosen people. That’s the Jews or some call them the Israelites. Then, later, you have the New Testament about Jesus Christ.”

Ed leaned forward. “My grandma talked about him. He did something important, but I can’t remember what. When I talked sass to her, she’d smack me good and say, ‘You need Jesus, boy,’ but I never thought to ask who this Jesus was or why I’d have any cause to need him.”

Bim nodded. “Your grandma was right about Jesus. We’ll get to him soon enough, but we have to get back to the beginning. You see—”

“Men, listen up!” One of the sergeants commanded everyone’s attention. “Johnny Reb’s planning to attack us soon. Maybe a half hour or so. Make sure you’re ready to form up. Check your ammunition.”

“You ready, Ed?” Bim asked.

“Yep.” Musket’s loaded. I’m ready to kill the first Reb that comes at me.”

Bim put his hand on Ed’s shoulder. “No, I mean you ready to hear this story? Looks like we need to get to it.”

Ed offered a quick nod.

Bim pulled out his pipe and tobacco bag. “It all starts at the chicken coop. You see, that was the first house my pa built on the farm and where he and Ma lived until he could build a proper house. He’d say, ‘This is the beginning. The creation of the Wickham farm.’ So, that’s where I start when I tell this story.

“The first words in the Bible are, ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.’ Before then, there was nothing except God the Father, we call him. In just six days, he created everything. The earth and the sun. Plants, animals, water, everything. And he made a man and called him Adam. He did all that in six days, and then on the seventh day, he rested.” Bim struck a match and lit his pipe.

“Then what happened?” Ed said.

Bim puffed on his pipe. “Then, he decided this man needed a helper, so he created a woman named Eve. Everything was perfect, and they lived in this place called the Garden of Eden. God told them they could eat anything they wanted, but not from this one particular tree. Now, there was this snake that came along and told Eve she could. She listened to that snake and Adam went along with it. So, they ate from it. That’s when sin entered the world.”

“Like doing bad stuff?” Ed asked.

“That’s right. God tells us what we can and cannot do. When you do what he said not to, you sin. That’s what Adam and Eve did. God told them and the snake what’s what, but in the end, the snake would lose. Man, or some man, one day would be the one to defeat this snake. Now I’m here to tell you that this snake is Satan the enemy of all of us. The Devil, bygummit. And the man to defeat him is Jesus.”

Ed’s eyes widened.

“So, Adam and Eve had children, and they had children and so on ’till you had a bunch of people walking around. God promised them that their descendants would fill the whole earth. But they started messing up something good, and God had enough. He found this one man named Noah, and knew he would obey him. So, God told him to build an ark, this big ol’ boat. You see, God planned to send so much rain that it would flood the whole earth and kill everything. But he’d spare Noah and his family, plus one male and one female of every type of animal.

“So, Noah started building this giant boat to hold all these animals. People ignored Noah. My pa would tell me this story when we walked by this little pond behind our house. He’d say, imagine that’s the whole earth. That’s how I remember. Sure enough, the rains came, and everyone drowned. For a long time, Noah, and his family, and all those animals floated on the waters for months until God made it so that they could go back on the earth. It was like starting all over.

“You ever see a rainbow, Ed?” Bim asked.

Ed, taken aback. “Of course!”

“That was a promise from God that he’d never, ever flood the earth again. He called that a covenant, which is like an agreement or a promise. He told Noah to be fruitful and fill the earth back up with people.

“After a long time, years and years later, God called this man named Abram to leave his home and start a new life in a new land. He made a covenant with him. He told Abram he would make him into a great nation, and great name, and bless him, and give him a new land that we call the Promised Land. He gave him a new name—Abraham. You see, the name Abram means father, but Abraham means father of many nations.”

“What did this Abraham do? Did he leave his home?” Ed asked.

“You bet he did.” Bim grabbed his bayonet and started to sharpen it again while puffing on his pipe. “He didn’t have it easy, but he obeyed God. In fact, his faith in God made him righteous before God. That meant that God wanted faith to be the most important thing in his life. You see, God wanted people to have faith in him. To make him the most important thing in their life.

“Before you know it, he had children, and they had children and so on. There was this one named Joseph who had some mean ol’ brothers that didn’t care for him much and sold him into slavery to the Egyptians whose leader was this Pharoah, which is like a king. Well, Joseph never forgot about God and lived in obedience.

“At first, he ran into some trouble because of the Pharoah’s wife and got thrown in prison. But he remained faithful. He eventually got out and was able to interpret dreams, which helped the Pharoah. Because of that, he ended up with a lot of power in Egypt. Later on, his family came on hard times, and Joseph helped them settle in Egypt. So, Abraham’s ancestors, called the Israelites, all took up and went to Egypt to live.

“After about 400 years, the Egyptians made the Israelites slaves. Then God called on this one feller, Moses, to go to this other feller, who was another Pharoah, and tell him to let all the Israelites go.”

Ed cocked his head. “I heard about that Moses. My grandma said he parted this whole sea or something.”

“That’s right, and I’m just about to get to that,” Bim said. “Pharoah didn’t want to let the Israelites go, but God sent all these plagues on the Egyptians like bugs and sickness and eventually took their firstborn like their sons. Finally, Pharoah told Moses and his people to get up on outta here. So, they left but the Egyptians started chasing after them so that they were stuck between this big body of water called the Red Sea and the Egyptians. So, Moses lifted up his hand, and God parted the sea right smack dab in two so the Israelites could escape. Once they reached the other side, Moses lifted up his hand again, and God made the sea swallow up them Egyptians who were chasing after ’em.”

“By golly,” Ed said.

“By golly’s right,” Bim said with a joyful laugh. “Moses became their leader, and God said he’d show them the Promised Land. A land where they could live and thrive. They would be God’s people, and he would be their God. God called it a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Ed smiled from ear to ear. He leaned in and listened intently.

Bim pulled the pipe from his mouth and looked to the side. “We’ll, God decided that they would have to live in the wilderness for forty years because the people were awful disobedient. Ya see, God has rules. He wants you to obey and have faith in him. To trust in him. The Israelites just sorta grumbled and fussed at Moses.”

“You sure know a lot about this, here Bible,” Ed said.

Bim gave an affirming nod. “Well, my ma and pa bought one when I was just a bit younger than you. I read the whole thing—”

“The whole big Bible,” Ed said.

“Why sure. A bunch of times. Try to every year but haven’t lately due to this here predicament. But I memorized certain parts to help me remember. Ya see, the Bible is made up of a bunch of little books. Sixty-six in all. Each book has chapters and then that’s divided up in verses.”

“Like a poem,” Ed asked.

“Not exactly, but there are parts that are like poems. For example, there’s one verse where Joseph meets up later with those brothers who sold him into slavery. In the first book of the Bible, called Genesis, chapter 50, verse 20 says, ‘But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.’ That’s one I memorized a long time ago. Joseph was telling his brothers not to be afraid. He didn’t want to punish them. That God works things out for the good even when they seem bad.”

Ed let out a slight whistle in astonishment. “Boy, I’d want to whoop my brothers for that.”

Bim nodded. “I know. But God wants us to be forgiving. The Good Book says…that’s what some call it, says in the book of Luke to ‘Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.’ You see—”

Boom!

Crack! Crack!

Bim and Ed whipped their heads to the right of distant artillery and gunfire. They’d heard that a few times in the last hour. None of the battle-hardened veterans gave it much thought.

Ed began biting his fingernails.

“I better get back to it. May not be able to tell you every story today. Remember, we were talking about Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt.

“One day, God gave Moses rules he called laws for the people. We call these the Ten Commandments. Ten things they needed to do to obey, like never worshipping another god or an idol, which is like a thing you think is more important than God. He told them not to lie or covet or steal, but it’s so much more than that. God wants us to worship him. To have faith in God and believe in him to be saved from wrath.

“God told Moses to tell the people that he wanted them to obey all his laws. They had a whole bunch more laws. They also had to sacrifice animals for forgiveness of sins. If they obeyed, God would defeat their enemies, and He would give them blessings. If they didn’t obey the laws, then they’d face curses. So, that’s why they had to wait forty years before they finally reached the Promised Land. God wanted them to be his chosen people and that he would be their God.

“This here’s real important to understand. God wants obedience. He wanted them to follow his laws. But they had to have faith in God for salvation from their sin. Remember I told you Abraham had faith. He didn’t have these laws to follow. God demanded him to have faith to make him right with God.”

“Like believing,” Ed stated.

“Yes, sir. Now the Israelites had to defeat other nations and armies in the land God gave them, and God helped them. They finally settled into that land, flowing with milk and honey. Before long, they wanted all these judges to be in charge. They kept getting into trouble. They’d say they were sorry, and God delivered them over and over. They ended up asking for a king to rule over them like other nations had.

“That don’t seem like a good idea,” Ed said.

“It weren’t. But God gave them a king anyway. Feller named Saul. He seemed okay at first. The Israelites got into a big fight with this other group called the Philistines. The Philistines had this giant soldier named Goliath that we talked about earlier. He was like nine or ten foot tall.”

“Phewee!” Ed said.

Bim cocked his head and nodded. “He mocked God and the Israelites and said for them to choose one man to come fight him. Well, nobody wanted to fight Goliath except this shepherd boy named David.

“Saul let him. You see, David had faith in God that he would be able to defeat Goliath, and sure enough, if he didn’t pick up some stones and kill Goliath.”

“Well, I’ll be,” Ed said.

The sergeant walked up to the pair. “Ol’ Bim here telling you how he could whoop Johnny Reb all by himself?”

“No, sir. We’re just talking,” Ed answered.

“We don’t know when the fight’s coming, but I expect real soon. You ready,” the sergeant asked.

Ed grasped his musket tightly. “Ready as I’m gonna get.”

The sergeant nodded and moved on to converse with another pair of soldiers.

“I better get to the rest of the story. Saul was jealous of David and tried to kill him. David ended up becoming the king, and then that meant David’s son would be a king, and so on. God promised that someone in David’s line would be king over Israel. Over the years, the Israelites got into a big tussle and the whole kingdom was divided with one in the north and one in the south. Not much different than us right now.

“Well, God had had enough of their disobedience. He let another nation take the Israelites captive for about seventy years. Eventually, they came back to their lands and rebuilt their temple that had been destroyed. The temple was a place where they worshipped God.

“Now, this part is real important.”

Ed leaned in. “Tell me.”

“God used these fellers called prophets to speak truth to the people. The prophets talked of an anointed one. The Israelites hoped for him to come and save them. The prophets said that God would make a new covenant with them. That he would forgive their sin. So, the Israelites spent quite a few years waiting and hoping for that anointed one.

“I’m here to tell you that the anointed one did come, and his name is Jesus Christ.”

Ed took off his cap in reverence. “My grandma used to say something about Jesus being her savior. I never understood that.”

“Everything I told you is in the Old Testament of the Bible. The New Testament is a lot smaller but starts out with these four books about Jesus. They are all sort of alike but have little parts that aren’t in the others. Must be pretty important to have four books about ya. The books are named after those who wrote them. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

“There was this young couple named Joseph and Mary who were gonna get married soon. But God put a baby in Mary even though she was a virgin.”

Ed blushed.

“An angel came to Mary and told her she would give birth to Jesus, the Son of God. It’s important to understand that Jesus is the Son of God but also is God. You got God the Father and God the Son.”

Ed squinted and cocked his head.

“You’ll understand soon. The boy grew up, and those around him could tell he was a great teacher. Jesus began to gather followers called disciples. Matthew and John were two of them. A lot of the Jewish leaders didn’t believe Jesus and worried he was stirring up the people. Remember that the Israelites and Jews are the same. They really got riled up when Jesus forgave people for their sins.

“Jesus was real popular because he performed miracles. He turned water into wine. He healed sick people. He helped one feller that was blind get his sight. He even helped this little girl that died come back to life. This made the Jewish leaders even more angry.

“Ya see, Jesus lived a sinless life. Never sinned a single, dang time. He even spent 40 days in the wilderness without eating the whole time. The Devil came up and tempted him with food and then tempted Jesus’ pride. Well, Jesus never gave in. So, when the Jewish leaders tried to make Jesus look bad, he was always a step ahead of ’em.

“The Jews wanted the Romans, who were in charge back then, to kill Jesus. They ended up crucifying Jesus on a cross.”

“A what?” Ed asked.

“A terrible way to die. They punished Jesus and killed him by nailing him to this big wooden cross.” Bim crossed his index fingers and then pointed up. “As big as these trees. Nailed right through hands and feet. He must’ve suffered something awful. But guess what? After they buried Jesus in this tomb, like a hole in the side of a hill, and after three days, he came back to life. It’s called a resurrection.

“Now listen close. This is the most important thing I’m gonna tell you. ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ That’s from the Bible. It’s the truth. God gives us grace. We don’t do a darn thing to deserve it, but he gives us grace anyways. He forgives us and promises eternal life.

“I’m telling you, Ed, that right now, you are separated from God. You don’t have a relationship with him. But he loves you so much, Ed. More than anyone on earth ever could. He wants you to ask him for forgiveness for your sins. God sent Jesus, his own son, to die for our sins. He took the punishment we deserved. If you trust in Jesus as your savior from sin, you will go to Heaven. All you need to do is pray. That just means closing your eyes and having a private conversation with God. Or we can do that together. You can pray anytime you want.”

“Gosh, Bim. I don’t know about all this.” Ed shook his head.

“Let me tell you how all this ends,” Bim said.

“There’s more?” Ed asked.

“A whole bunch more in the Bible. That’s why I’ve read it over and over. That’s where you’ll find the truth. After Jesus was resurrected, he went up to Heaven to be with God the Father again. God the Father sent us the Holy Spirit to help us. Jesus said this Spirit would comfort us. The Spirit is also God. God the Father. God the Son. God the Holy Spirit.

“The last book of the Bible is called Revelation, and it talks about the end of the world. One day, Jesus is coming back. The Devil will get defeated once and for all. Remember way back at the beginning, I said God would have someone whoop the snake. That’s gonna happen. Jesus will restore all his people. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. Everlasting peace.”

“I never knew there was so much to the Bible. Kind a wish I had one now,” Ed said.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sounds of war became louder and its ramifications closer.

“Let me tell you one more story from the Bible. I have a feeling we’re about to be in the thick of it. Jesus once met this woman at a well and began talking to her. Now Jesus is God, right, so he knows all about her. He begins to tell her many things from her life. She couldn’t understand why Jesus would even talk to her because her kind, the Samaritans, weren’t liked by the Jews, and Jesus was a Jew. He told her that anyone drinking from the water from the well would thirst again but that he would give water of everlasting life. She could tell Jesus was a great man and asked for that water. She ran off telling folks to ‘Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?’

“Jesus told this other person that, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.’ Listen to me, Ed. Forget the water in that canteen. Take that water from Jesus. Trust in him and have everlasting life.

A tear rolled down Ed’s cheek. He wiped it quickly and looked around to see if anyone noticed.

“There’s no shame in that Ed. Give yourself to Jesus,” Bim said, placing a hand on Ed’s shoulder.

“Form up!” an officer shouted.

Bim jumped up, but Ed remained seated and distracted as if he hadn’t heard the order. Consumed with emotion.

Bim reached down under Ed’s arm. “C’mon son. It’s time to show them Rebs what’s what.”

“Thank you, Bim. Thanks for telling me. For all of it. See ya soon, I hope.”

Bim smiled. “Go do your duty. And remember the story.” Bim ran off to his assigned position.

Ed lost him and then stood in his place in the formation—hardly textbook due to the brush and trees.

A noise came rolling up the hill. Ed had never heard anything like it. It sounded like the low rumblings of a thunderstorm but then morphed into a chaotic mess of whoops and yells.

“That’s the Rebel yell,” the soldier next to Ed said. “They a coming.”

They did come. Not once, not twice, but five times, the Rebs attacked the 20^th Maine, but the boys from Maine held their ground for ninety minutes. Colonel Chamberlain had been given orders that he had to hold their position at all costs. If the Rebs broke through there, the Union army would be totally exposed on their left flank.

Ed did his best to follow the other men and do what they did. He fired his musket a dozen times but remained unsure if any of his balls hit their mark. The confusion of battle left him bewildered. After fending off the fifth attack, Ed took a seat to rest, as did others.

Bim walked up. His face showed no signs of the hell they’d all been through. “Good to see you, son. You okay?

Ed spoke through labored breathing. “I’m making it, I suppose. But I’m out of ammunition. So is everybody else.”

“Yep, me too.” Bim looked around at their predicament. “Promise me one thing, Ed. Don’t forget what I told you.”

“Yes, sir. I won’t forget.”

“Bayonets! The command came from Colonel Chamberlain himself, who stood a mere fifty feet away.

Soldiers immediately began affixing their bayonets to the end of their muskets.

Ed followed suit. He looked at Bim’s bayonet and noticed a gleam of light, causing it to shine. Ed’s own bayonet was dull and rusted on the end.

“Ed. The Bible says the sword of the spirit is the word of God,” Bim said and winked.

The bugler played the command to charge, and once again, Ed lost sight of Bim.

The Rebs never expected it. They gave in quickly, and the 20^th Maine held their ground. They protected the extreme left of the Federal Army.

Ed walked through what was left of his regiment. Men lay dead and dying. He had come through without a scratch, but he had never hesitated in doing his duty. Then he saw it. The shiniest bayonet on the field. Blood covered Bim’s chest. Ed saw no life in him. Unlike fallen soldiers whose faces spoke of agony, Bim had the most peaceful look on his face.

 

Epilogue

Ed returned to Bowdoin, Maine, inherited his parents’ store, and grew the business with great success. He married, and the couple had four boys and one girl. They lived in a nice home at the edge of town.

Colonel Chamberlain had returned to Bowdoin a hero, served as the Governor of Maine, and eventually returned to his alma mater, Bowdoin College, as president, where he also had served as a professor before the war. The Colonel, as Ed always called him, even stopped in his store on occasion, and the two spoke of Little Round Top.

None of that mattered as much as the moments after the bayonet charge on Little Round Top. That’s when he knelt down next to Bim’s dead body.

He leaned in and whispered in Bim’s ear. “I believe, Bim. I know Jesus died for me. I prayed like you said right before we attacked with bayonets. Right before that first attack. Not because I was scared. But I just knew. I knew that whether I was about die or die fifty years from now, I needed Jesus.” Ed chuckled. “Just like my grandma said.” Ed stood back up. “See ya soon, Bim.”

That moment changed Edward McVey forever. When he returned home, he used his meager savings to buy a Bible and read it cover to cover. He met his wife at church, and they faithfully attended every Sunday where he served as a deacon. He named his oldest son Bimael, who eventually became the pastor of their church.

Many years later, as Ed entered his retirement years and was soon to reach eighty, his grandson, Bimael the II, came to him for advice.

“Papa, now that I graduated from Bowdoin, I’ve felt the Lord’s call to pastor just like my father.”

Ed grinned. “That’s great news, Bim. I’m proud of you.”

Bimael the II said, “I know I need to study the Bible and theology more.”

“I hear Bangor has a fine seminary,” Ed said.

“I know, Papa, but I’m tired of these Maine winters. I heard about this new seminary down in Dallas, Texas. It’s called Evangelical Theological College. I’ve already been accepted.”

• Tags:
• Bible
• Civil War
• Religion
• Short Story