Subscribe to our Mailing List
| Along the Way 7-23-10 |
 Bonnie and I recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C. where we attended the wedding of the grandson of Hamp Watson (former senior pastor of Wesley Monumental). John and Greta got married on the Potomac River in a beautiful evening cruise.While in Washington we toured the United States Capitol, home of our Congress, the branch of government closest to the people. Each state has the privilege of erecting in the Capitol two statues in tribute to native sons or daughters. Can you name Georgia’s two honorees? (See next to last paragraph.) I wish I’d had time to study each statue; it would have been quite a history lesson. Some statues were immediately recognizable: Ronald Reagan, George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, and Jefferson Davis. But most of the men and women represented could not be identified without the name beneath the statue. Many of these persons are icons for a particular state or region, although some of them made a difference for our nation and world. Five Native Americans (Po’Pay, Sequoyah, Sakakawea, Washakie, Sarah Winnemucca) are memorialized in this group. I was impressed with the number of statues commemorating religious leaders. Father Damien, one of Hawaii’s honorees, was a Belgian Catholic priest who gave his life in the service to the leper colony on Molokai. Marcus Williams was a physician and Methodist missionary who with his wife Narcissa helped settle Washington. Washington state’s other monument pays tribute to Mother Joseph, a Catholic missionary who founded 11 hospitals, 7 academies, 5 Indian schools and 2 orphanages in the Pacific Northwest. She was also the first architect in that area. Hers may be the only figure in the Capitol depicted as on her knees in prayer. Father Eusibio Kino, born in Italy and a missionary with the Society of Jesuits, established mission schools throughout the Desert Southwest. This scientist, cartographer, astronomer, explorer, historian and builder is remembered by a grateful Arizona. His statue seems ironic, somehow, considering how he was one of the first “illegal immigrants” to enter that territory. Other persons with religious backgrounds include Roger Williams (Rhode Island), Jason Lee (Oregon), Brigham Young (Utah), Jacques Marquette (Wisconsin) and John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg (Pennsylvania). One can find sketches of all 100 honorees on the internet, including photographs of each statue. Georgia’s statues commemorate physician Crawford W. Long and Confederate States of America Vice President Alexander Hamilton Stevens. A bust of Martin Luther King, Jr., designated “a hero of this nation” is also proudly displayed in Statuary Hall, authorized by Congress. I’ll see you Sunday in our sanctuary where we give praise, honor and glory to the One who cannot be depicted by stone or metal. Creede Hinshaw |
