Tuesday Brief
General Superintendent Max Edwards & Judy
June 30, 2026 Gone With The Wind Ninety years ago today, Margaret Mitchell’s epic novel, “Gone With The Wind,” was published. It was released on June 30, 1936. It flew off the shelves, ultimately surpassing “Ben Hur” as the number one, all-time best seller. Lew Wallace’s novel, subtitled “A Tale of the Christ,” had held the top spot for literally 55 years, from 1880 to 1936. I find it sad that Mitchell’s story supplanted Wallace’s in popularity. Gone With the Wind marginalized the horrors of southern slavery, romanticized the sensual (and sexual) ambitions of a southern belle, and essentially extolled the vices of lust and personal ambition. Ben Hur, on the other hand, was about discovering the truth that personal ambition and the pursuit of vengeance are hollow and can be washed away by the transforming power of grace, sacrifice, and redemption. Ben Hur’s central theme - that virtue triumphs over ambition - led to it becoming required reading in schools, in a time when literary fiction was viewed with disdain. And, of course, Gone with the Wind became required reading too in the years that followed its publishing, but not for its virtues (or lack thereof), but despite the lack of soul-enriching goodness … simply because it was popular. The concept of personal abasement and virtuous transformation is captured in Ben Hur when Balthasar the Egyptian reflects on the nature of true greatness and the soul's purpose, emphasizing that spiritual integrity outweighs earthly power:
"The merit of a man is not in the success he achieves, but in the purpose he serves and the virtue he maintains along the way."
~ Balthasar
This sentiment captures the heart of Judah Ben-Hur’s transformation—as he personally moves from a destructive, ambitious quest for revenge and restored status toward a life defined by faith and moral character. Both are fictional characters, but Judah Ben Hur’s journey is all about the conquering of self, while Scarlett O’Hara seems to be on a quest to conquer others.