the power of symbolism

Today is Bastille Day, a national day of celebration for the French. A pivotal day in the history of the country and a beginning of the road to the downfall of the monarchy and the long, lurching road to democracy. And yet in reality not much really happened. Bastille Day is named for the hated French prison is Paris and it was "stormed" that day and "liberated". But did you know that there was only one prisoner in the whole place? I guess you could say that it was the flash of a match that lit the fire of revolution. The whole French Revolution was quite unlike our own- very violent and wide swings of power. Many of the movers and shakers ended up dying at the hands of  the Revolution they created. And it was decades of back and forth between Republic and restored Monarchy before France settled on the organized parliamentary system and multi-party arrangement they have now.
But the symbolism of Bastille Day drove them on.

So too is the Emancipation Proclamation in US History. We mark  it as the first real shot in tackling slavery and yet when it was issued in 1962 it didn't free a single slave. It proclaimed liberty to all slaves residing in the rebelling Confederate states, over which the Union did not exercise control, and said nothing about slaves living in the Union or non-rebelling states. It wasn't until the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in December of 1865 that any slaves north of the Mason-Dixon line were freed. And the importance of Juneteenth, June 19th 1865, was that on that date all the slaves in the South had finally heard the news of the Proclamation and knew that they were legally free, because the South had been occupied by Union troops and could enforce the decree of liberty.

But the power of symbolism was important for both events. It drove people's actions - as the Union Army drove further into the South, slaves knew that they could be free if they only could get across the battle lines to Union-controlled territory. And the fall of the Bastille drove the French to firmly put an end to the grip of the monarchy.

Don't overlook the power of symbols. Use them to drive action. History is replete with examples of their power.

Don't swear at the squirrels

Don’t swear at the squirrel, don’t damn the deer, for though they may be slow they have as much right to be here as you.

When you least expect, when you think you have the road to yourself, nature rises up to surprise you. I had a corner near where I used to live which seemed to sprout squirrels – or at least one who every so often decided to dare me to miss him. He seemed to wait for me and rush out at the last moment. I always managed to take evasive action to miss him, but it spooked me none the less

Once when coming down a mountain ridge in California I saw a deer standing by the road, and willed it to stand still, since I didn’t want to hit it, but had a steep rise on one side of the road and a sharp dropoff on the  other side. I later saw a deer dash out to cross the road up over on the Olympic Peninsula and get hit because a car couldn’t stop in time.

We have these open roads fit for cars and trucks and we are content to just plug along obliviously. But nature’s creatures are all around and need to cross. Let’s be mindful of how we drive. There are also plenty of bikes, tractors, or just slow cars that share the road, and we need to be mindful and considerate of their right to be there.

It’s like that in life, not just in driving. We may have it easy uncomplicated, never wanting for the basic necessities of life, never hassled for the way we look, where we were born, how we   worship, or who we love. We have no impediments in our history or family that cause us difficulty or even pause. But we don’t inhabit this world alone. There are many going down that road of life that struggle to get by, that can’t zoom along, and they have the same right as us to drive this road of life.



It’s like the coworker I once knew who was so upset by “slow” drivers that he described his entry to the freeway once as “driving fast and close down the entrance ramp while blaring his horn full blast to get the guy in front of him to get  out of the way”. How rude. I was glad not to be in front of him that day, but I prayed for all those who had been and would be.

So do the equivalent of social distancing in your car and your life – give space to those who need it. And if you come across a group of    geese crossing the road, stop and let them pass. You’ll get to your destination soon enough.

We will survive

Sometimes we miss lessons in history because notable dates and events are often not recognized as holidays or otherwise treated as special. There are no fireworks or special sales. Usually they are only noted by historians. Such a time was last Wednesday through Friday.  July 3rd was the 157th anniversary of the final day the Battle of Gettysburg. I remember partly because I am a history buff - my major in college was history and political science. And partly because my great-grandfather was there that fateful day.

My great-grandfather Anson Elisha Wright was born in Bristol Vermont and enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was with the 14th Vermont Regiment which was in the middle of the Union lines on Cemetery Ridge when General George Pickett lead his fateful charge. The Confederate Army was repulsed and retreated and never threatened the North again. It cost 20,000 killed and wounded on either side, the bloodiest battle of the war and though  the war didn't officially end for almost 2 years, it was the turning point where the South's destiny was sealed. 

All that to say, while these past months and years have been rough, we have been through worse times. We were literally split in two as a country, fighting state against state, brother against brother.

And yet we survived. Because people stood up for what was right.

And that is our call. Remember the tough times this country has come through. Don't forget your history. Between the Great Depression, the Spanish Flu, both World Wars, as well as the Civil War, we have had tough times to endure. Scandals galore. And continue to stand up and not only believe that we will get through this, but act on it as you can. 

Remember in 2008, not that long ago, we elected and reelected Barack Obama, an African American, to be President , an event that was unimaginable before that in my lifetime. That was us also, we can and will do better I believe.