Reflecting On The Past
PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE PAST
May 30, 2021
REFLECTING ON THE PAST
Ever since the dawn of history, people have been erecting monuments, memorials, statues, and markers. We find them in many cultures, on every continent, constructed by a variety of religious groups, and in a variety of shapes and sizes. In the Hebrew Bible there are many stories about the construction of such monuments and memorials. These structures all have one thing in common: they invite people to reflect on the past.
Carol Schaeffer in an article, Hatred in Plain Sight, in the October 2020 issue of the Smithsonian writes that Germans have four distinctive words to describe a structure such as monuments and memorials. First, there is an Ehrenmal which is a monument built to honor its subject. Second there is a Denkmal which commemorates an event. Third, there is a Gedenkstatte which is a place of reflection and contemplation. Finally, there is a Mahnmal which is a warning sign or admonition never to repeat a horrendous part of the past. (Hatred in Plain Sight, October 2020, Smithsonian, p. 69)
Sunday, May 23rd, the Marshall County Genealogical Society and the Marshall County Historical Society sponsored a historic marker driving tour. There were nineteen markers on the tour. Most were Denkmals (13). Six of the markers (Ehrenmals) honored a person. Two of the markers could be categorized as Denkmals but also might be considered Manhnmals. One was a marker for 9/11/2001 and the other was an Indian Cooking Stone. The first, recalls a tragic event in the history of our country; the second is a reminder of how Native Americans were wrongfully treated. The tour helped those on the tour to remember and reflect on the history of Plymouth and Marshall County.
Chapter three of the Book Joshua tells of the Hebrew people crossing the Jordan River which had parted so they could pass on dry land. Chapter four tells of the building of a monument to commemorate the crossing. Joshua tells twelve men that he has appointed, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, so that they may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to com, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever.” (Joshua 4:5b-7)
Here we learn that one of functions of memorials in the Hebrew Bible is to stimulate persons to ask how they came to be. This is especially true for the children. Memorials, monuments, statutes and markers are ways to pass a community’s history and traditions on to the next generation, to visitors, and to new residents.
May 30th people across our nation will be gathering around monuments, memorials, markers and grave stones to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country. In most cases they will be held at Ehrenmals. A few of the ceremonies may be held around a Denkmal which remembers a specific battle or a particular war. Bands will play patriotic music, speeches will be given, prayers will be offered, guns fired and taps played.
These Memorial Day services will provide for communities the opportunities to reflect on the lives of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, on the wars in which they fought, and on the circumstances that brought the conflicts about. This is an opportunity for parents and grandparents to bring their children and grandchildren to these services so that the next generation might learn community values, traditions, and history and have the chance to ask questions.
George Santayana is generally credited with the quote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Memorial Day provides an opportunity to reflect upon the past. Hopefully, this will help to prevent us as a nation to not repeat those factors which lead to previous conflicts and wars.