THIS IS YOUR LIFE!

March 17, 2014

Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your children to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. For it is not an idle word for you: indeed it is your life.  Deuteronomy 32:46, 47

The National Park Service doesn’t just rest on its laurels—it’s always on the lookout for more places that it might add to its 401 sites commemorating America’s historical places and people.

I’ve recently read about some examples. Two New York Congressional representatives have introduced legislation—with the Park Service’s encouragement—ordering studies of two locations in New York City: the John Bowne House and Old Quaker Meeting House in Queens, and Fort Greene Park’s Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Brooklyn. According to an article in the New York Daily News, “The sites already appear on the National Register of Historic Places for their significance to religious freedom and the American Revolution, but experts say most people have no idea the historic gems are so close to home.”

Bowne first allowed Quakers to hold banned meetings in his farmhouse, and in 1694 bought land to build the Meeting House, the oldest structure in continuous religious use in the city. The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument, erected by famed architect Stanford White in 1908, commemorates 11,500 colonists who died under British captivity aboard prison ships during the war of independence. “There is a rather sizeable plaque at the base of the monument, but most people I talk to actually don’t know the significances,” said Julie Golia, director of public history at the Brooklyn Historical Society, in the article.

Further west, the Chicago Tribune reports three Illinois lawmakers would like the Pullman Historic District designated a national historical park. The 300-acre area on the city’s South Side dates back to the 1880s, when it was home to the business that made railroad sleeper cars, as well as housing for its workers. Company president George Pullman hoped to create a model community, attracting skilled laborers who would increase productivity (and hopefully not strike because they were so happy with their lot). The over 1,000 brick houses and buildings were constructed by Pullman employees, and each home had gas and water, as well as front and back yards. Plenty of green space also was incorporated into the community’s design. Maintenance was included in the rental prices.

The town’s population reached its height of almost 9,000 in 1885, and it was a major tourist attraction during Chicago’s World’s Columbian Expostion in 1893. A national economic slowdown resulted in reduced wages, and workers did strike the following year. The refusal of American Railway Union workers to move the Pullman cars interrupted rail service and mail delivery, and federal troops were brought in to quell the unrest.

Robert Todd Lincoln took over the business’s presidency following George Pullman’s death in 1897, and the next year the Illinois Supreme Court ordered Pullman’s Palace Car Company to sell all its property not used for industry. By 1907, the residences were in private hands and remain so to this day.

In the 1960s, an industrial park threatened the district, and galvanized residents into action to save the neighborhood. The Town of Pullman was designated an Illinois Historic District in 1969 and a National Historic Landmark District in 1970 and 1972.  Preservation efforts and building renovations continue.

I vaguely remember the Pullman strike and persecution of Quakers from my high school American history classes, but I’d never heard of the British prison ships. Such a large number of people dying at the hands of the enemy would have made a huge impression on our fledgling nation (and you’d think even today). Obviously, over a hundred years after it happened it was still on the minds of many, since they built a memorial.  So it’s kind of amazing that now it’s a largely forgotten piece of history (makes me wonder if future generations will remember 9/11).

Philosopher and writer George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” When the lessons of history are not taken to heart, we quickly forget what happened and make the same mistakes all over again.

Biblical history is no different. “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction,” the apostle Paul exhorts the church in Rome, “so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). The men and women of the Bible are no different from us—the stories of their triumphs and failures are for us to learn what to do and what not to do in this life.

I hope that you’ll become familiar with what God has to say to you. In the opening verses of this post, Moses told the Israelites that God’s instruction weren’t just idle words—they were life itself.  Jesus reiterated that message in answering Satan’s temptation: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4, a quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3). Just as you’d starve if you only ate food once in a while, your soul can’t be fully nourished by a mere Sunday dose or a quick “bite” whenever you feel like it or find the time.

If you don’t know how to study Scripture on your own, I’ll be happy to point you to some good resources. Or go to your local Christian bookstore or your pastor and ask for guidance.

I guarantee you’ll find much, much more than mere “historic gems…”

 

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