Autumnal Reflections: History and Our Heritage

The poetry of autumn in the Smoky Mountains is always remarkable, partly because of the rich American history that comes to mind during a quiet walk in the woods. One can almost hear the soft footsteps of this land's earliest inhabitants going about their lives along the riverbanks and among the trees. Preparing for their winters they would collect the nuts, dry the harvest season’s fruits, and finish reinforcing their settlements for the cold weather that would come with the season’s changes.

With knowledge about the truth of why and how the first white settlers came to America one can imagine the pleasure with which wise people learned interesting methods and culture from each other while preserving their own.

The warm friendliness that the natives and the newcomers enjoyed in the early days of their relationship can very nearly be felt if we look at the myriad of colors dancing in the autumn breezes. Beside streams that carry yellow and orange leaves into the crannies of clustered rocks and deep tree roots we can sense the strength of those early friendships.

It is not pleasant to consider the vicious behavior that eventually divided most of those first relationships, but that consequence of time is not new to humankind’s bonds. Since the fall of man there have been wars within and without.

The tragedies that have occurred in American history are not unique to America, nor of any other particular culture. An honest study of the history of the world reveals that every race, every culture has its record of abuses of their own people, not to mention abuses of other races and cultures.

It is very important, however, not miss what is valuable in history when trying to find solutions to prevent repetition of past mistakes. When we consider the histories of past cultures we need to study out the whole truth because too often we focus only on trying to learn from the mistakes.

Sure, there is a lot to learn from what goes wrong in a situation, but we can also learn much from the aspects of those circumstances that were, in actual fact, very good. The gains should not be lost because of the wrongs, but sadly, the gains are too often destroyed. When history is written without a full account of events, or when it is rewritten in a manner that changes the intent of the written record, gains vanish.

A total focus on the wrong prevents us from remembering and learning from what was good throughout history. Like every other culture, America has had its share of both. In the political climate we have today we need to be careful to teach our children that America's history has a lot of good that we could learn from.

The harvest season is a fine time to reflect on American history, Smoky Mountains or elsewhere, but we need to be sure to avoid the bitter and ungrateful revisionist’s version of our country’s heritage.

American school teachers have been pressured to ignore the truth about our history, and have even been required to teach lies about it. Do you know a child that you could share some truth with?

Consider the following resources for those you can influence during this fall season. Maybe they will share them at school!

• A library archive from Christianity Today.

•The kid's page at skyangel online.

• The boy's video page from VFM.

• Unveil our Republic's constitutional history with ACH.

• A family bookstore from LBG.

• Learn about America's foundation with ACHI.

Happy fall, ya’ll!