A lot of folks went to the movie theatres this weekend to see Jesus.

Me? I got an unexpected dose of the divine by seeing Cold Mountain instead.

It was a fine adaptation of the book – which is one of the most beautiful pieces of literature of recent years that I’ve read. But it wasn’t the story, the characters, or even the music (though the Sacred Harp stuff was divine to be sure).

No – I think it was the awakening of the half-buried memory of my great great great grandfather getting shot by the Home Guard in Yadkin County during the Civil War. I’m not sure whether he was a deserter (though I don’t think so – I’m pretty sure he didn’t join up with either side), a Union sympathizer or exactly what. I just know that he died under a blaze of bullets from the Home Guard’s guns. The family story is that he was in a school house with some other fellows when the Home Guard surrounded them. I’ve heard members of the family refer to him as a bushwhacker. I really don’t know that much one way or the other.

But now I want to.

So I started looking for him on the internet, but not a lot of luck there exactly. But on the way to looking for him, I found my great(x5 or 6)grandfather and a site that took that line all the way back to Wales (which I knew). But the surprise was that a great (x 9 I think) grandfather came from Wales to Jamestown in 1622 on board the Charitie.

Kinda fun – no?

You can find the divine in the oddest places…… it’s just fitting (and a little scary) that I’d find it in the 1860s.