Amos Fortune: free man by Elizabeth Yates is one of those children's books that is meaningful and inspiring no matter what age you read it. I first met Amos Fortune this winter of 2022. Even though he died in 1801, I say "met," because he was a man whom everyone would want for a friend.
Despite all the pain he
came through - including being captured by another tribe and sold into slavery
in his teens, spending decades earning money to buy the freedom of more than
just himself, losing loved ones, and sometimes being mistreated - Amos had a
soft and grateful heart.
It wasn't easy, but he lived out his faith in a very practical way and learned the value of following Jesus' direction to turn the other cheek.
"Amos watched the fire climb slowly at first, starting from a dozen different places; then like a wall of destruction it moved up the steep sides until the flames met and linked in a vast pyramid of fire at the summit, consuming everything that could be consumed and leaving the mountain bare and smoldering.
"Hate could do that to a man, Amos thought, consume him and leave him smoldering. But he was a free man, and free at a great cost, and he would not put himself in bondage again."
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