Tip of My Iceberg

The roots of Presidents’ Day began in 1800.

George Washington died in 1799, and a year later the country celebrated his birthday on February 22, a day of national appreciation and remembrance. It didn’t become a holiday until the late 1870’s, and the date was adjusted to honor other presidents, past and present, in 1971.

Honoring those who have positively impacted our country isn’t limited to presidents. There have been those who’ve risked much to challenge what hasn’t been helpful for all our citizens. We haven’t done it perfectly, or even well, but we continue to try. That’s called growth and maturity.

Our grands in Virginia studied the roots of our diverse culture as they learned about American history, particularly the American Revolution. Sloane’s second grade class had to learn about a character from that era, and she had a choice of five different people. She ended up learning about Deborah Reed Franklin, Benjamin Franklin’s wife.

Very little is known about Mrs. Franklin. Sloane had to do a three-minute presentation about her, and what information is available doesn’t shed a great light on her. She was common-law married to Franklin, not in a church because she was technically married to John Rogers, who had left for the West Indies, leaving her behind. Franklin wasn’t a faithful husband either; he was apart from her much of their marriage, moving around Europe, acting as a single man.

With the little bit of information she had and the disappointment of a sad life, Sloane ended her presentation with, “Even though she was away from Ben most of her marriage, she was proud of the life she lived. She wrote him several times to come back home to be with her, but he refused, and she died alone.”

Remembering what the drama of history means is important. We may not agree with what happened, but history can’t be rewritten. What was has been established.

Such is the case with Jesus’ crucifixion. Many questioned the reliability of what happened. Pilate, the Roman governor who condemned Him to death, had been warned by the religious leaders that Jesus had said He’d come back to life after three days. Pilate put a guard around the tomb with his personal seal on the stone that covered it. Anyone breaking the seal would suffer an unpleasant death. The sixteen-man guard surrounding it was at even greater risk–if any of them fell asleep or deserted, the entire squad would be executed.

When Jesus appeared to His disciples and at least five hundred others during the forty days after His resurrection, none of them denied what had happened.

Many have tried to explain away the empty tomb. The precautions taken were drastic to prevent any human scheme from happening.

People may not like the historical facts–like those who didn’t approve of Benjamin and Deborah Franklin’s interesting marriage or even the truth of the resurrection. But that’s the way it was.

Sloane put a dramatic flair on a sad history which made it more interesting.

What Jesus did defying death was something no one alive at that time could deny. Dramatic and true.

History has a voice we need to listen to.