Lessons from History

Well, yesterday afternoon after we finished school, we went to a local park. (Actually we had planned to go to the small zoo but that did not happen.) And after the kids checked out the playground, we headed over to look at some military artillery that is in the park. My son loves military history. There were a few pieces from WWII. We will have to go back with dad for definitive identification another day. Anyway, then we spied a memorial.

Upon heading over there it became clear that it was very old, and although beautiful, definitely deteriorating. We entered and to our delight discovered that it is a Civil War memorial. Inside are names of soldiers from the area that died in the war. Also was a plaque explaining that this was the rebuilt memorial as the original had become dangerous... but this one is also almost 100 years old. My children were saddened at how much damage was on the memorial and my kids both wanted it fixed and wanted to find a way to help. We talked about various funding issues and all the difficulties this presented. As we headed out, we found one more treasure, a series of Civil War cannons. Considering that we are studying the Civil War right now, it was an especially wonderful find. And a reminder for how difficult and yet important it is to maintain historical sites.

In light of yesterday's post on the rights of the unborn, I am reminded that it was not long ago in our history that America did not consider that African Americans were deserving of human rights either. Our country changed its views in that situation, and I pray that just as we overturned the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision saying blacks were property and not protected by the Constitution, we will soon overturn Roe v Wade and recognize the unborn also.