THE WISDOM OF MONUMENTS?
I spent much of yesterday touring the museum and battlefield at Gettysburg with some good friends. I visit this small, vibrant town often. It happens to contain one of my favorite restaurants, The Spring House Tavern, which lies in the cellar of The Dobbin House Restaurant. The Dobbin House, the oldest building in Gettysburg, was built in 1776. It was owned and operated by a successful pastor who had ten children. He started a college, assisted enslaved people escaping through the underground railroad, and helped make Adam’s County its own entity apart from York County. He pastored a church, owned three hundred acres, and ran a first-rate tavern.
From the front porch of The Dobbin residence, the good reverend could watch Abraham Lincoln deliver his famous Gettysburg Address across the road at the dedication of the National Cemetery. Gettysburg is full of great historical stories.
Like all National Cemeteries, the hundreds of white headstones and numerous monuments make the entire area hallowed ground. With nearly 51,000 casualties, Gettysburg was the most-costly human tragedy in American battlefield history.
There are 1,328 memorial and monuments in the Gettysburg National Military Park. There are thirty states represented with monuments and one federal memorial in the park, along with a visitor center and impressive museum containing one of the most extensive dioramas in the world.
Monday, May 31st, is Memorial Day, a national holiday resulting from the Civil War. On this day, our nation commemorates our fallen heroes in all wars. Many monuments exist that signify both sides of the Gettysburg conflict. I wonder how many people in history have died fighting for the wrong side of an argument or a less than noble cause? Many good people make terrible choices. Why would we ever memorialize them? Retrospective of history, it is nearly impossible to understand how and why so many people endorsed such a cruel institution as slavery. But the lens of history is often less clouded than the actual experience. The study of history is consequential.
In Memorial Cemetery in Anderson, Indiana, there stands a headstone to Joseph Ralph and Edna Genell Hamilton, my beloved father and mother. “In loving memory” is the phrase that adorns this couple who raised four children and were married for forty-some years.
But wait a minute. That’s only part of the story.
Occasionally, Joseph Ralph Hamilton revealed a volatile temper. He could cuss like a sailor when he found it expedient. He smoked cigarettes for over fifty years which caused his early demise. Dad’s early passing meant that none of my children or grandchildren had the opportunity to enjoy his great sense of humor and kindness. He was a bit impulsive and sometimes spent money on cars he couldn’t afford. He still had a tinge of racism that he learned from the culture of the day. On a few occasions, he railed against Democrats and FDR’s “New Deal.” People who did not work “hard” angered him. He grew up on a farm in New Castle, and everyone was expected to labor hard every day. There were no “free-rides” in dad’s world. And don’t forget those communists who he considered evil incarnate. I’m sure dad had darker secrets as well. Perhaps like you and me?
What? A memorial to this guy? Absolutely! He was a good man, a flawed man, but a fine human being, nonetheless. Dad was a sinner, saved by grace. Mom was too, but I’ll leave that for another article. Though he was wrong on several issues, even critical issues, he is worthy of remembrance. Why?
What we keep before us forces us to remember, study, contemplate, celebrate, learn and grow. What we erase leaves us wanting for perspective and wisdom, and even opportunity to change for the better. Within nearly all of us, there is nobility and honor. And only a fool believes she/he is better than another because there is also smokey darkness in the best of us. God explains it like this.
9 Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles] are under the power of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous—
not even one.
11 No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”
13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with lies.”
“Snake venom drips from their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
15 “They rush to commit murder.
16 Destruction and misery always follow them.
17 They don’t know where to find peace.”
18 “They have no fear of God at all.”
19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. (Romans 3:9-20 NLT)
When I was younger, I read these words feeling that he was talking about someone else. Then I grew up and realized the Almighty is talking about me. How offensive! Then I grew even older, wiser, and experienced. When I read Paul’s words, I blush. No, it’s not the person across the street or some poor soul of the past; it’s me. He’s talking about me. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
Is anyone worthy of a monument based on merit? You perhaps? Me? But wait, what about our dark side?
So why have any memorials? And why dedicate a national holiday to sinners who just happened to rise above their fallenness long enough to get themselves killed by another sinner who disagreed with their point of view. Many soldiers were forced into battle by a national draft. Conscription took place in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War One, World War Two, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Some were not excited to go to war for any cause. Many northerners fought to preserve the union more than to eliminate slavery. Many southerners fought for the sovereign rights of individual states, the expansion of their way of life into the west, and their simple ability to make a living. Moral and ethical integrity are always works in progress.
You see, memorials do mean something. Monuments reveal insights into something important. Whether it is a grave marker for your father, or a massive stone monolith recognizing soldiers from Alabama, a memorial is a window that reveals the quest of a fallen race trying to make things better . . . trying to makes things right.
The 15th Alabama regiment faced off against the 20th Maine regiment in a pivotal skirmish on the southern flank of the battle of Gettysburg at Little Roundtop. Bama’ lost this one. Against all odds, the northern troops repelled the Confederates and took many prisoners.
Sadly, many soldiers from Alabama lost their lives at Gettysburg. Like all others represented in the battle, Alabama is a great state. Some of the best music of all time erupted from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, not to mention a bit of football.
Memorials teach us something. Since we are all sinners, we must take great care to wisely decide what we will support related to life’s most weighty issues. All of us are heavily influenced by our culture and our decisions are duly swayed.
Memorial Day shows us that imperfect people fought against other imperfect people so that we could all figure out how to create a better world in which to love each other and, at least, to get along. The monoliths and granite statues also give us hope. Can you imagine a world where we never forgave the British or the Germans, Russians, Spanish, Mexicans, North Vietnamese, or Japanese for killing our soldiers? But Memorial Day brings hope. We now enjoy healthy, productive relationships with these people groups.
So, perhaps we should use memorials as symbols of learning and enlightenment. Monuments are not required to celebrate something, but they cause us to remember important things. Some shrines force us to recall that some things are worth fighting for. They should also demand that we look into the mirror of our own soul and be warned how easy it is to make unwise choices.
I will not be able to view my father and mother’s headstone this year. Beside them lies my sister and several aunts and uncles. But I will visit them in my mind. Sinners and saints all rolled up into individuals who tried to figure out their complex life.
This Memorial Day, I will be in Miami watching an airshow. But I can assure you that I will take a few quiet moments and remember the sacrifice of those who fought, to the death, for their beliefs, even those I deem wrong. Throughout our history, countless people have perished so that we might continue in freedom to strive to get it right. God help us.
I hope you honor our fallen soldiers on Memorial Day with this fact in mind. We are all revealed in Romans 3:9-20 and Romans 3:23 aren‘t we?
