"But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Jesus, in Luke 6:27-28

"But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Jesus, in Luke 6:27-28

For a tiny moment in history, the "better angels of our nature" carried the day.

Joshua Chamberlain positioned his Union soldiers on both sides of the road that morning with the same feelings of relief that likely swept through most corners of the still-young nation. The War of the Rebellion was over! Selected by Ulysses S. Grant to oversee the surrender of the Confederate Army at Appomattox Courthouse on April 12, 1865, the professor-turned-soldier watched as the entire Army of Northern Virginia marched in battle array toward his troops.

Leading that defeated army up the dusty road was John Gordon, picked by Robert E. Lee for this difficult and humiliating exercise. Eyewitnesses described Gordon's face as downcast, eyes searching out some distant place on the ground in a symbolic gesture of resignation and grief.

Victory often breeds defeat when winners gloat. Defeat often breeds disaster when losers are defiant. On the heels of the most vicious bloodletting in American history, there was little reason to believe in those "better angels of our nature" Abraham Lincoln harkened in his first inaugural address.

Then something strange took place. Gordon heard clanks and rustles among the Union troops, and knew in an instant what was happening: Chamberlain had ordered his troops to salute the defeated enemy as they passed! No gloating here, no loud taunts or vicious reprisals: Only silence and the moving picture of soldier saluting soldier, each side describing scenes of grown men with "cheeks wet with tears."

It was left to the vanquished to match this kindness, and Gordon did not miss the moment. History notes that "at this clatter of arms he (Gordon) raises his eyes and instantly catching the significance, wheels his horse with that superb grace of which he is master, and drops the point of his sword to his stirrup...," returning in defeat the graceful salute offered in victory.

May the better angels of our nature rise again, and may the wisdom that swept over Chamberlain and Gordon so long ago visit us once more. And may those who call Christ the commander of their souls carry themselves with humility, compassion and gentleness in the days ahead, regardless of whom they followed on the first Tuesday in November.