Monday, August 26, 2013

Voiceless Women: Elizabeth Zwecker Sheffey




BJU's 1977 film "Sheffey" leaps lightly across the protagonist's marriage to Elizabeth Zwecker, a union which spanned more than a decade, allowing her just five nameless seconds of the two-hour movie: "I did have a wife," the Sheffey character allows, "but she died ten years ago."

That lonely sentence piqued my curiosity. But when I got my hands on the biographical novel on which the "Sheffey" screenplay was based, I was soon so disillusioned I had to put the book aside for many months--a rarity for me. Not only did the movie version omit the first Elizabeth Sheffey, it showed Sheffey as father to only one devoted son--passing silently over the six children he fathered with his first wife.

As a Quiverful "sister-mom", I found myself identifying with Sheffey's wife, with his children, with his sisters-in-law. I was repulsed by the callous way this "saint of the wilderness" treated his wife and family. I wondered why Unusual Films chose to leave out that--to me, significant--part of the story. By then, though, I was realizing how frequently Christian biographers painted their subjects only in bright, cheery colors.

Here, then, is the story of that wife that Robert Sheffey "did have", drawn largely from Jess Carr's now out-of-print book The Saint of the Wilderness.

* * * * * * * * *

Elizabeth Zwecker was born in 1817 and spent her entire life near Cripple Creek in Wythe County, Virginia. Elizabeth had little education. She was apparently introverted and sensitive, probably illiterate, a melancholy temperament, perhaps? Life wasn't easy in Cripple Creek, but the Zweckers were a large family (four girls, five boys) and Lizzie was especially close to sisters Leah--an "old maid" in her thirties--and Sarah, who was just two years older than Lizzie. After being abandoned by her first fiance, Elizabeth was in her mid-twenties and gun-shy when Robert Sheffey proposed marriage. She turned him down at first, then reconsidered his offer.

Who was this generous schoolteacher who was so taken with her? Robert Sheffey had been raised by a well-to-do uncle and aunt, who brought him up in a mild Presbyterian tradition in Abingdon, VA. After his uncle's death, the young Sheffey fell in with a different crowd, which indirectly led to a religious conversion at a lower-class revival meeting. As a result of this and other tensions, Robert was estranged from his aunt, leaving the comforts of her home and heading off to have his own youthful adventures which acquainted him with the more rough-hewn side of life in Virginia. He was eventually persuaded to attend college for a while but was a dismal orator, frequently violated curfew, and never could muster much appreciation for higher education. Wisdom, he explained, was more valuable than knowledge anyway.

The increasingly eccentric young man was increasingly attracted to lively revival meetings and didn't mind traveling long distances to participate in them. After he dropped out of college, he was employed at a store for a while. When locals invited him to take the tiny school along Cripple Creek, Robert accepted. And then he fell in love with Elizabeth Zwecker.

Elizabeth was 26 when she married the little schoolteacher, three years her junior. He could read, write and teach; he noticed details no one else paid attention to; he was never at a loss for words and he was so sure of himself! He could have had a city girl with smooth hands and a parasol, but he had chosen her. How she wanted to be worthy of his love! Everyone liked Robert, and he would stay by her side always.

The newlyweds lived with her parents for the first couple of years. Robert, who was teaching school at the time, missed the birth of his first child. As the arrival of their second child drew near, Robert continued to travel all over Virginia to attend revival meetings, mixing with the audiences and encouraging potential converts to repent. For a while, his brother rode along on these trips, but Daniel decided the travel was too exhausting. Robert found the trips invigorating, always meeting new folks, staying in the homes of strangers.

And while Robert traveled, friends and relations were constructing a new cabin for the growing family. Sure, he helped with some of the work, but others did the lion's share. Robert would include the building project in his lengthy classroom prayers which bored and confused his students who expected to see someone else standing the room when they peeked from behind their folded hands. Two of the four rooms were still unfinished when the family of four moved in at Christmastime. They were also $100 in debt, which worried Elizabeth.
Not the Sheffeys' cabin

By the time the school year came to a close, Robert was itching to be back at his hobby--and maybe not just exhorting this time, but even preaching. He tried to help Elizabeth get the garden in, but he was really daydreaming a sermon and had trouble multi-tasking.

The babies kept arriving: James and Hugh were followed by Daniel in 1848 and Sarah in 1849. Sarah's pregnancy had been rough for Elizabeth, who begged her husband to stay close to her for a while. So while his wife slowly and painfully recovered from the birth, Robert curtailed his travels, staying within a day's ride of the cabin all summer long, thus discovering many tiny church groups he had hitherto overlooked. At one such meeting just twenty miles from home, he had his first opportunity to preach.

Robert went through the motions of teaching the following school year, again helped Elizabeth with the garden, and tried not to make too many trips that summer. But he had found his passion. He would join the Methodists, he determined, and maybe he would even become a licensed preacher. He forced himself through another year of teaching, itching for summer to arrive. Elizabeth was pregnant again, but James was six and could be a help. Leah and Sarah Zwecker often came by to help their sister with her house full of children.

Robert made his first missionary journey early that spring, in April, before the garden was even planted. But he was at home in August when Elizabeth delivered Margaret. This time, she hemorrhaged so badly that she could hardly hold the infant, let alone feed her. Robert called a doctor the following week, who said Elizabeth needed rest. Robert negotiated with a slave woman's owner for her service as a wet nurse and tried to stay close to home. He studied the Bible, read the newspaper he subscribed to now, helped in the garden, and taught school.

After a few months, Elizabeth had improved enough to visit the city with Robert, but she was anxious about her health, still unable to breastfeed little Margaret, and she dreaded the arrival of another spring. "Please don't leave me--stay home with us," she begged him. And come summer, she was still far from well. Robert planted more crops that year and imagined getting a license to preach in local churches. That fall, Elizabeth helped her husband as she was able, until he decided she should save her strength. Poor Elizabeth was pregnant again.

She was 35 when she pushed baby John out into the world in 1853, her sixth delivery in less than nine years. A month later, she was still frail, able to stand up for only an hour a day. They had to hire another wet nurse. Robert promised he wouldn't leave them, but he made exceptions: a trip to see a dying slave from his childhood home, visits to the Methodist district presiding elder to seek a preaching license.

Poor Elizabeth wished Robert would stay put. Months after the birth, she continued to battle hemorrhages. The doctor put her on bed rest and Sarah and Leah took turns helping with their six nieces and nephews. After Christmas, as Elizabeth's life continued to leak away in red blotches, Aunt Sarah moved in with the family to stay. Two of the older kids were home sick with mumps in February, 1854 when Elizabeth suffered a massive hemorrhage and bled to death in her bed. She was 36 years old.

Though Elizabeth's story ends there, she lived on in the hearts of her grieving husband, her loyal sisters, and her motherless children. Sarah and Leah Zwecker had grown close to their nieces and nephews and were glad to share the responsibility of mothering them in their sister's stead, leaving Robert free to travel as he chose. And he did choose, after his initial sorrow. He left teaching and took up independent itinerant work for the Methodists--praying, preaching, and discouraging the distillers of moonshine whiskey.

Robert Sheffey
As the years passed and the older boys left home, one to join the Confederate Army, another for employment and further education, Sarah Zwecker urged Robert to allow the remaining children to move in with their grandparents and doting aunts and uncles. The younger two had no memories of their mother at all, but were very attached to the aunts who had raised them from infancy. Robert withheld his blessing on this plan, however. He had met an attractive woman on his journeys and had begun to build a new castle in the air.

When Robert Sheffey announced his plans to marry Elizabeth Stafford and move his family to another part of the state, his sister-in-law was incredulous. Aunt Sarah had devoted over nine years of her life to raising her nieces and nephews, while their father traipsed all over the countryside, and she became their advocate now.

For nearly a decade, the Zweckers had been all the family these young ones had known. And Robert--this man known far and wide for his obsessive compassion for the smallest creatures: rescuing tadpoles from a shrinking puddle with his handkerchief, righting overturned beetles and moving insects away from wagon wheels, insisting on the best care for his horse--this preacher wanted to uproot his children from their home and give them a new mother they'd never met? Robert was always quick to make demands of his hosts for his own comfort (requesting different bedding or dishes prepared a particular way) when he stayed with strangers, yet when it came to the emotional needs of his own flesh-and-blood, he seemed both deaf and blind.

In the end, Sarah's pleas prevailed. Robert did remarry in 1864, but Elizabeth's children were settled at the Zwecker home "in a manner that was pleasing to all". Robert let the empty cabin out to tenants and split his non-preaching time between visits to his children in Cripple Creek and stays with Eliza and his new son Eddie in Giles County. Unlike the first Mrs. Sheffey, Eliza knew from the start that she was marrying an itinerant Methodist and their largely long-distance marriage was a happy one. They are buried side by side in a churchyard in Trigg, VA.

Biographer Jess Carr wrote in his introduction: "Perhaps this old Methodist circuit rider was really crazy after all. Plenty of people thought so."

I wonder what Elizabeth Zwecker Sheffey thought. Was she happy? Did she have regrets? Did she love Robert in spite of his eccentricities? Because of them? Did she feel that her husband loved her? Did she ever believe he was off doing God's work?

"To love another person is to see the face of God."
                                                                        Victor Hugo

Perhaps Robert Sheffey was the one who missed out, after all.



33 comments:

  1. I love that you're researching the TRUE stories behind the stories we were told. My heart aches for his first wife and I'm staggered that he was presented us such a loving, caring man when he had no care for his wife and children. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  2. No doubt Elizabeth Sheffey, her children, and her family suffered disappointment at what the tragedies of life handed them, and as reads this article, the seemingly selfishness of Robert Sheffey. Has it occured to you that it is possible he grieved his wife's illness and death in escape from the reminders of her, mainly their children? And since he died 75 years before the movie was released, did he command creative license to barely mention them from the grave? Ah, that Christians were nlt tremendously flawed human beings called by God to do what the truly pious believers consider "foolishly eccentric"...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree.....'history' has a way of changing family stories. If Sheffey were here to discuss the film, being a man of God, I would imagine, he would insist that his first wife and children were definitely included. Who was behind the film? What family permission or advice/interaction did they ask of the family before the film was out there?

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. http://www.amazon.com/Saint-Wilderness-Biographical-Robert-Sheffey/dp/B000O2PYH8/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1425622740&sr=8-7&keywords=Robert+Sheffey

      Delete
  4. It is good the know the truth. I think he was another preacher who really had an imbalance with God and wife and family. God does come first but your family needs to be secure and loved and provided for by you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tim Beasley of Virginia Beach, VA here. My mom's mom was Nellie Sheffey, of Max Meadows area. Trying to fit in my geneogly. My mom told me she was Robert S. Sheffey's great grand daughter...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just purchased this movie and I thank you for the added information. I wondered why they left out any part about a first wife. Only God knows the whole truth, how much he did that was actually God's will and not his own, but perhaps some benefited from what he did do. Matt 7:21.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The directors and producers of the Dreamworks production of 'Moses, Prince of Egypt' left out his parents almost entirely; and, the follow-up movie, 'Joseph, King of Dreams' leaves out all his wives and concubines...I think the points are: 1.) in adapting a story of faith for screen, one must hone in on a major story line in order to draw the audience to the moral of the story. I believe Unusual Films did that with Sheffy, and was not deceptive in how they did it. 2.) Making a movie from a book requires much editing and usually can only focus on two or three main characters at most! Then, the producer must decide to either be more faithful to the book or to the present day target audience. That's why so many movies say they are "BASED on a true story"...not because they are (normally) intending to misrepresent facts, but to appeal to an audience.

      So, with those things in mind, I believe, with what degree the movie was clear on presenting the true nature of God (kindness, goodness, patience, righteousness, etc) there was a great benefit tot he movie. I have personally spoken with many people who have seen it over the years who were spiritual benefited by it

      Delete
  7. The constraints of the time available for the film (it is over 2hours and 15 minutes long) made it necessary to omit the earlier part of Sheffey's life with his first wife. I worked on the production for the film and am well aware of the difficulties. I am in the process of writing a detailed description of the miracles that took place to have the book which is out of print and the movie made. I lived with Sheffey for over three years that it took to make the film.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Was it really necessary to omit Sheffey's life with his first wife or was it because it would have really shown who Robert Sheffey really was? A man of God would not deny his family to go off to become a licensed preacher.

      Delete
    2. So true if you see movies that are based about real life they can't put everything in it because if time.

      Delete
  8. This film was one of the best Christian films ever made.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it is. It's my top favorite film! Thank you.

      Delete
  9. Thank you for posting this information concerning the background of this man.

    Just last night I was brought to the attention of this so-called preacher through a friend who watched the movie concerning Sheffey's life. I researched it immediately, because, unfortunately I do not trust my friend's discernment concerning so-called "Godly Men" used by God.

    We have every biblical responsibility to question if a man, as you put it so well, " Doing God's work". "Did she ever believe he was off doing God's work?" After what I read from the biography from Wikipedia, I would have to say a resounding no.


    Concerning Robert Sheffey, I found when I read how his son Edward came to him with a query concerning him spending more time with the family, this is a direct quote;"“Uncle Johnny thinks that you ought to spend more time with your family,” to which Sheffey replied, “Son, Uncle Johnny doesn’t know which way the rats run. The Lord will take care of you.” I was appalled at his response comparing his brother with rats! Does this sound like the Grace and Love of God? Does a godly man talk in this manner? It sounds more like this man Sheffey had real pride issues.

    I dislike how he was labeled as a "powerful man of prayer" and that through these "prayers" miracles were worked! Many of those so-called "prayers" brought hell fire down against workers of evil, such as those who made alcoholic drink. Where is this type of action supported within the New Testament scriptures?

    Also his over-the-top care regarding pests, animals, he cared more for the creatures than his own household. He cared more for his comfort at the cost of his hosts! I see no support for this type of behavior, this is pride, not humility.

    Let us view how a man of God is suppose to be towards his family, especially his wife and children:Read Eph 5:25-28, and Eph 6:4 This was not followed.

    So many during this time period wherein we live, just except anyone that names the name of Christ without checking to see "if" they be truly of the Lord. We must compare their workings, teachings, preachings according to the full council of our God! And "if" they walk another path, we are instructed not to follow nor to support.

    Overall I am not impressed, nor do I sense this man to be following the "voice of the Lord". He followed a voice that contradicts the Word of God.

    So.....on this basis, you had every right to question the "authority" of this man's so-called ministry because his family suffered greatly from his actions.
    The bible teaches us that our relationship to the Lord comes first, then family, then the Body of Christ, and then to the preaching to the lost, as lead by Holy Spirit. Anything less is disobedience and rebellion against the one True God and His Ways. The Lord will NOT place any man who is NOT mature in the things of God to lead others, it's just not supported by Scripture.

    The Lord bless you for posting this, and questioning the viability of Sheffey's ministry.

    This is NOT the best Christian film ever made, it is a travesty of truth and righteous judgement!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let's let Jesus be the Judge. God bless you brother.

      Delete
    2. I believe you are being critical and judgmental on what little information you have from a non-autobiographical book, and a movie made as a condensed version of the book. Apparently God as concerned as someone's background, wisdom, shortcomings, weaknesses, etc., as he is concerned about their willingness to make themselves available to his service. None of God's servants are perfect. And this man is certainly not here to clear up any discrepancies of "history" concerning his life. This is a great Christian movie, more for the fact that the gospel was clearly given!

      Delete
    3. I do not think Robert Shelley deserves this criticism. As to praying for the destruction of "stills". Moonshine was a huge problem in that day. Because of Sheffy's prayer, a man was saved, and a lot of families didn't have to endure drunken fathers. Jesus cast the demons out of a man then destroyed the swine the demons took home in. Many preachers regret the lack of time they spent with their families, even Billy Graham, Billy Sunday, and even my own Godly uncle. It did say he went to see them frequently and the Aunts took good care of them. Things were very different in that day and age. Men were not "hands on fathers" then as a rule. Also, he was tender and kind to the girl having the illegitimate baby boy. And he did turn out to be a Godly Preacher just as Bro. Sheffy prayed.. We don't know why he sometimes requested clean sheets for his bed, but it could be because things weren't washed too much in those days. I think he did a lot of good!

      Delete
    4. A very prudent and accurate assessment of "Anonymous'" diatribe. Thank you!

      Delete
    5. You obviously didn't grow up in a pastor's home!Especially in previous generations.When you received a call from God you knew what you were in for.
      This also applies to secular world too.Men were expected to perform work for their career or to go to war even if they had a wife and kids at home and a farm that depended on them.This was true even if you were not a sea Captain or career military man.
      Talk to my friends whose parents were missionaries about being dropped off at school as young as three years old and may or may not have seen their parents at Christmastime.One of my MK friends is heading up a group to bring awareness to the sexual abuse during her time at one of these schools.
      My dad and his dad were both A of G pastors.Grandpa was austere and could be judgemental.My dad was beloved by many people and literally worked himself to death.I bit my tongue through the years as people told me how wonderful he was wondering how he could pay so little attention to his family.As I grew up I began to see how difficult it is when you serve God to separate priorities when God is your boss.And when your congregants become your family and depend on you which do you pick?Whose funeral,wedding or tragedy do you say ,"No" to?He and his dad were called of God but not perfect.They did the best they could with what they understood.

      Delete
  10. I appreciate this post. I agree with what you said here.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Reading Sheffey with a 21st century mindset does not give a fair hearing to the man. Women from that age had a lot less fair treatment than today's women. Therefore, Robert Sheffey didn't have the examples of a family man that he might have today. Furthermore, even great preachers of today often misplace values and allow family to fall behind church in obligations. Someone has to teach these things. Also Sheffey did repent of his pride frequently throughout his life, starting as a young college student and right up to his last days. I think many are to willing to criticize that God uses broken vessels, not perfected men.

    The Scriptures teach we can know a person by his fruits, or results. As a person growing up in that section of the Appalachian Mountains, I see that communities were changed by his ministry. He did not pet sin. Sin leads to death. When he called down destruction on the still, etc., he wasn't trying to destroy the man, but the sin and it's ramifications.

    I also commiserated with Elizabeth, but do not allow his weakness where she was concerned destroy my respect for the good he did.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The great A.W. Tozer, and pioneering missionary C.T. Studd were not great family men. We're all deficient sinners. Sheffey won souls, and was giving. Yeah, he wasn't home like he should have been. "Sister-mom"- Mormon?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be interesting to know if she was indeed a Mormon...

      Delete
  13. Enjoyed the thoughtful article, but wish to give you a caution. After reading Jess Carr's Diary entries while he was writing Saint of the Wilderness, I have come to the conclusion that he was not entirely careful with the details, and invented some characters and situations. I have visited with descendants from the Cripple Creek area, and they seem to enthusiastically uphold their forebear's name. An elementary school is named in his honor, and a stained glass window at the Huddle United Methodist Church was placed in his memory. With Robert Sheffey away for so long from this area, it it doubtful that if the case were as bleak as you described it, that the descendants would have honored him as they have, and still do. I also learned that Robert would make an annual trek to visit his wife's grave near the anniversary of her death. A revered spring house still barely stands (I was just there last week) that Robert built himself. I understand that Leah, the "old maid" sister, encouraged Robert to continue his travels, and that she would continue to nurture her nieces and nephews. Not saying that any of this justifies rank neglect- just saying it calls into question if there was rank neglect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I certainly hope you're right. I certainly wrote this from the lens of a Quiverfull childhood that was both abusive and neglectful. (And if I was Leah, I think I would want as little to do with Robert as possible.)

      Delete
    2. Thank you for your thoughtful logic, Unknown. I haven't been able to lay my hands on the exact passage in the Good Book where we are instructed not to slander those who are no longer here to defend themselves, nevertheless, for the Christians on this site: Think again: De mortuis nil nisi bonum.

      Delete
  14. I love this conversation and, truly, I thank everyone who shared here. How important is is for us to question -- or preferably, think critically. It is a biblical survival skill don't you think? KJV of Romans 2:12 "And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God ."

    We all have our "credentials" which we earn when we overcome personal challenges. I believe this is how we become qualified in areas which God needs us. My "credentials" are somewhat along the line of Jeri's, which make us sensitive to our experiences and advocates for those to whom we can relate -
    AND lest we forget, offer forgiveness through grace to those in most need of it.

    Perhaps Robert Sheffey was not a very good father. And I agree, it seems sad that part of the Robert Sheffey story left out some significant biographical information. It may be like when we teach children in Sunday School, we focus on the significant works of people who Loved the Lord or responded to His call, but we don't really focus on that fact it wasn't nice for Jacob to put Joseph on the pedestal or set him up with that sole beautiful coat of many colors because the point of the story at that time is usually to focus on what God does through us, not the poor choices we make on the side. Personally, I think all parents have flaws in their parenting. And we can be reminded through deeper bible studies of poor parenting by men who loved the Lord and responded to His call:

    Jacob - Start of the Nation of Israel - was outwardly obvious that he loved Joseph more than his brothers and you could argue set Joseph up for a poor relationship with his family.

    Lot - Moses' nephew, hard worker and blessed by God - allowed himself to be seduced by his daughters AND gave his daughter to be raped in order to save his guest.

    Noah - Seen as crazy but build the Ark anyway - cursed his sons for seeing him naked.

    Samuel - The last "Prophet" who spoke with God and did His will - was likely not home much or very involved with his sons perhaps resulting in their slandery, bribery and perversion In God's House!

    We see similar behaviors to Samuel in King David, Solomon, etc.

    Not everyone is a good parent, but God sees the heart upon final judgement. - KJV - Romans 8:27 "And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

    All of these men and more did great things or illustrated their love and knowledge of the Lord, YET, were not able to balance their work and parenting as well as curb their fleshly desires. Blessed are we for the hope given us and those who choose our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I wonder if any Christian who read the gospel from title page to the end would criticize in such a way as you all do. We are to judge someone by their fruits...Robert Sheffey produced a huge crop of fruits for the Lord. He's not here to defend himself because I believe he resides with our Lord. As for the his neglect of his first wife and family, that is for our Lord Jesus and God to decide that. We don't know what was in his heart, only God does. We weren't there. His family is not around to explain either, but we should look to the labor he put forth to bring people to God. If a prostitute turned Christian would you still bring up her past? No, so lets look at the good that this person brought for Christ's sake.

    ReplyDelete
  16. you refer to his first wife as poor seems to me you judged him before you even started by the way you put things ...no different from movie makers everyone painting their own picture I wonder what the LORD thinks

    ReplyDelete
  17. I had always enjoyed the movie but had the same "check" in my spirit when hearing of his first wife's death. My research led me in the same direction and much of the same feelings followed. The thing I saw that should have been addressed with Sheffey is temperance. His wife was not able to carry and deliver six children in nine years without serious complications. He should have used the Fruit of the Spirit to curb his desires and keep her from being in such a weakened condition bearing bairns so closely together.
    I read a biography on Billy Sunday and as he lie dying, he wept crying that he had neglected the most precious while preaching to the masses. One of his son's committed suicide and I believe the other children were unsaved. His wife tried to comfort him but he saw his error too clearly as he lie dying and refused comfort and embraced regret and no doubt prayed for forgiveness.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Bro Sheffey was a man of God. In his day no doubt he was God's man in this part of va. I am a pastor myself and there is sacrifices to be made if the job was done right. So easy to judge from the outside. The movie was great.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Then I went to look up the details. The Bible tells us we can look at a person's fruit for our personal edification, not to judge, condemn, or destroy someone's character. Preacher Sheffey had Bible fruit, which are answered prayers, souls won to Jesus, and the fruit of the Spirit in his life. I wonder if the people who are condemning his so harshly can say the same, or if they can say that in their life they have never made mistakes, never missed something important, or never unknowingly let anyone down accidently or on purpose. No doubt a third party who is close enough to the people who judge and criticize Sheffey could reveal to the world the failures, imperfections, and faults of the ones who have so
    many negative things to say about him. Back then, they didn't have the knowledge of nutrition, medical care, or even birth control like we do today. I have a great great (...) grandmother who basically had six children and died. Evidently that was not such an uncommon thing back then. Even if Sheffey had stayed home with her more, that is no guarantee that she would have lived because she would still have continued to have babies. It is likely that she would have died anyway because her body just wore out. I too think her story is sad, but God took care of her children after she was gone. Like someone said, we don't know the details. Let's be thankful we have more knowledge than they did and let's not touch God's anointed with our sharp tongue.
    It truly was a great movie, and the thing that got me the strongest was what he said at the end. This is not an exact quote, but he basically said something like, "It wasn't taken away from us; people didn't want it anymore." I could put that on a flag and fly it!! That is today. In George Orwell's 1984, we assume the people experienced a "take over," but today we have a "handover." People are handing over their privacy, their time, money, and energy, and their rights and freedoms. Churches have stopped having church because of covid, people are afraid, and people are sequestering themselves in their homes. People give their information to Big Business and allow them to influence and persuade them to buy their products, people have turned their back on God and buy the ideologies of the system, and they are handing themselves over to the sources and forces that are running the world. The church is not using the authority Jesus Christ gave us before He went back up to Heaven. They are sleeping with the world. When the character who played Sheffey said what he did at the end, it really got me. That is our world today!!!!!

    ReplyDelete