There is Nothing to Arbitrate
“And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.” Genesis 25:2 KJV
The speaker stood before the young cadets. Their spirits were aroused by all the possibilities. When his last words were uttered, they raised their swords high in the air, ready to charge into the unknown. They knew not where they were headed. They only knew there was no such thing as defeat. To their left was the voice of reason. To their right was the experience of those who had fallen victim to their vision before. The world was theirs. Their swords were sharper, their courage braver, and their intelligence was far superior to any the world had ever known before.
Much like many before me, the above battle cry was my thought process as I left my high school for the last time. The world was mine. All I had to do was go out and get it. I was a part of a movement called youth and the path we would blaze would set the world on fire. The strange things about these battle lines is the world is so easy to conquer until you actually see the bullets coming your way. The ease of high school didn’t translate into the ease of college. The big shot senior was just a young inexperienced punk at the jobsite. One by one all your friends move away and new ones seem harder to find. The sword gets a little heavier and there seem to be fewer reinforcements behind you.
Suddenly the battle cry and the dreams are replaced with a knowledge that you don’t need to blaze a new trail through the jungle when there is already a paved highway leading in the direction you were heading. Personal goals replace passion. Being like everyone else becomes more important than being yourself. There is a girl to marry, a house to own, a job promotion to acquire, and a kid to raise. And there it is right in front of you, just what you thought you were looking for. Then it’s gone. A failed business, a divorce and that child you hoped to raise fades from your life. What’s worse is that the wages you are making aren’t covering all the bills you have coming in. What happens when the life is sucked right out of you?
We were at the beginning of World War 1. Europe was suffering. Battles raged throughout their continent. They needed our assistance, or at the very least, be able to buy food and supplies from us. When businesses and farmers rose to those challenges shortages and price spikes occurred in our own country. Businesses were pretty greedy and farmers were still just making a living. The people cried out, “We need some financial help! We are working long hours and our paychecks just aren’t covering our expenses. We need raises!” Business would not listen. The people’s savior came in the form of labor unions. Then we ourselves became involved in the actual war and patriotism seemed to make us feel a little selfish about our own struggles and the union threat died down a little.
Soon a hunger in the bellies overruled the patriotism spirit and the union spirit began to pick up steam. But strikes, the main tool of the unions, not only affected the lives of its members, it also affected the lives they served. If the railroads went on strike, workers couldn’t get to work or worse yet, the goods they produced couldn’t get to market. If their goods couldn’t get to market then their employers wouldn’t be able to sell their wares. If they didn’t sell their wares, they didn’t need employees. If the coal miners went on strike, how could people keep their houses warm in the winter, especially in the northern part of our country? Remember, there were no power plants like we have today. The telephone had become the main form of communication. How could we talked to Grandma or how could one government agency communicate with another if the phone operators went on strike? Worst yet, who would protect us if our police force went on strike.
It was the latter, the police force of Boston, that was threatening to go on strike. It could set a dangerous precedent for just not Boston, but for the whole nation. Being a member of a union was even against the manual of the Boston Police Department. That did not stop most of the policemen from joining the AFL. The Governor of Massachusetts was keeping a close eye on the situation. President Wilson was too busy with his League of Nations push to be bothered with something as small as this. The Boston Police Officers decided enough was enough and they challenged the Governor and went on strike. They knew it would be a short strike, for once they went on strike they knew the Governor would be forced to give them whatever they wanted. They thought the people, fearing chaos would reign, would demand the Governor to concede.
Dictionary.com describes a concubine as “a woman who cohabits with a man to whom she is not legally married, especially one regarded as socially or sexually subservient; mistress or a secondary wife, usually of inferior rank.” Keturah was a somewhat unique concubine. There are only four verses in the Bible about her. None of those verses mentions when or how she actually became a concubine.
Wedding anniversaries are usually a cause for celebration. Although all anniversaries are special, ten, twenty-five, fifty, or even seventy-five years are exciting numbers to reach for an anniversary. Image if you were married over one hundred years. We may never know exactly how many years he was married to his first wife, but most would agree it was over a hundred years. They would only have one son together. Then she would die. Sometime later, after she died, in somewhat of a strange twist, he would take one of his concubines, Keturah, and make her his wife. This new couple was probably married over thirty years and would have six sons (Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah).
When Sarah, Abraham’s wife of over one hundred years, died, he would live another thirty-eight years. Abraham took Keturah, his concubine to be his wife (Genesis 25:1). Abraham would take great care and provided for these sons and Keturah. God probably saw Abraham’s loneliness and provided him another companion.
The Boston Police Department got one thing right. When they decided to go on strike it threw the city of Boston into chaos. Looting was everywhere. Lawlessness seemed to be the only rule in the city. The Boston Police Commissioner, Edwin Upton Curtis, was an advisor to Governor Calvin Coolidge, and he assured him that he had the situation under control. When the looting continued Boston Mayor, Andrew Peters, decided he should take matters into his own hands. Governor Coolidge pulled out his Massachusetts Constitution which stated that the Governor was the one to make the calls on matters like these. Coolidge decided to stand by Curtis. They both realized the Massachusetts National Guard was too small to handle the situation, so Coolidge appealed to the Federal Government. Soon Boston was swarming with soldiers and order was restored. The question now was what to do about the striking Police Officers.
Coolidge could order the Police Officers back to work. The law stated he could do so and any officer not obeying his order could be fined or imprisoned. He could also wait a few days and let things settle down and negotiate a settlement. Everyone was wondering which choice Coolidge would make. Everyone was surprised when Coolidge chose neither. Instead, he fired all the Police Officers and refused to rehire any of them. He would say, “There is nothing to arbitrate.” Overnight, Coolidge became a national hero because he stood up for the people’s safety instead of caving into the union’s demands. Some even wanted to put his name forward to become President of the United States. Coolidge would state, “I have not been and I am not a candidate for President.” When Warren Harding was nominated by the Republican Convention on the tenth ballot in 1920, Calvin Coolidge would be given the Vice Presidential job. Harding would win the election. Harding would die three years later and Calvin Coolidge, the man who stood up against the Boston Police Union would become President.
Someone once asked me when I was about to turn forty if I would be depressed. My reply was, “Forty couldn’t be any worse than thirty-nine was.” Little did I know then that my life’s climb would be heading sharply upward. Things looked rather dark at that time, but His light shone bright and I made my way into His warmth. My search for answers led to His path and once I got on it His blessings began to flow. Like Abraham, God blessed me with a wonderful life, even after I thought my dreams had died. Like Coolidge becoming Vice President, I never expected the long reaching arms of God to extend so graciously in my directions. But God does hear our cries and He does answer our prayers. The life I have now is proof of that. God loves us and that is not open to arbitration.
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, Thank You for noticing my tears and lifting me up to the life I have today. Amen!
