Quitting is not an option!
My friends, I see our large Spokane County team pushing hard together, and not quitting.
2 Timothy 4:7 tells us this from the Apostle Paul. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
As we think about this, and as we serve here in Spokane County together, while keeping our faith; quitting is not an option, and we can finish this race well together, side by side.
This month we have an example from our American history, of a man who role modeled this very topic of not quitting; William Gould “W.G.” Raymond
William Burtch, one of the authors of W.G.: The Opium-addicted Pistol Toting Preacher Who Raised the First Federal African American Union Troops, wrote to me and said this; “Dear Spokane County Sheriff Office Chaplains, Thank you for your important work. Please share the story of W.G. Raymond with your associates. W.G. was a pastor & chaplain who enlisted in the 86h of New York as a 43-year-old to fight to end slavery. This is an inspiring and under-told piece of our history at a time when we need inspiring stories.” The details of this biography just released from Sunbury Press can be found here: https://wgthebook.com/
This biography of William Gould “W.G.” Raymond, based on a 19th century autobiography found in a relative’s attic and exhaustive new research, uncovers a flawed but dedicated Union Officer at a pivotal moment in history.
President Lincoln would appoint W.G. Chaplain of the Washington Hospitals where he tirelessly attended to both physical and spiritual needs of the war wounded and dying. After the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln then appointed W.G. to recruit the first federal African American Union Army troops and made him a commanding officer of the 1st USCT. W.G. and his troops would go on to wage perhaps the most successful battles by African American soldiers in the Civil War.
After the war, W.G.’s battles were just beginning and fought in obscurity. He battled a decade long addiction to opium after his service, which he defeated through his profound faith. For us to be able to look back throughout our American history and see those who also “fought the good fight” (as the Apostle Paul said) is an opportunity for us to be encouraged by the real-life examples that remind us to never give up in our current day battles and struggles as well. Then, we can all say together that “QUITTING IS NOT AN OPTION!”.
God Bless, Chaplain Robert Kinnune