Two Events That Should Not Be Forgotten

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of one of those moments in history that are unforgettable.  You ask people, "Where were you when you heard the news that President Kennedy had been shot?" and most will readily tell you, almost as if that event had happened yesterday.  I was a junior at Boone (IA) Senior High School.  I had just returned to class after the lunch period.  That day, some friends and I walked the three blocks down to the neighborhood Dairy Queen for a quick burger, fries, and Coke.  I remember it was a cold, dark day with snow flurries lingering in the air.  We had just settled into our seats for History Class when the intercom informed us that an important announcement was to be made.  I remember hearing voices from the radio as it played through the intercom, finally the words of Walter Cronkite saying, "The President is dead!"  A quiet hush fell over the classroom that penetrated even into the hallways for those who were just beginning their lunch period.  Then the Principal announced that classes would be dismissed.  Instead of "war-hoops" of joy as we departed for our lockers, there was a stunned silence.  It was as if we were all in a stupor.  Presidential assassinations were something that we read and studied in history class - first Lincoln, then Garfield, then McKinley.  Now history was repeating itself and those scenes we had only imagined were now a reality. 

I believe the face of television changed forever that weekend.  Networks, really just beginning to realize the powerful potential of news broadcasting, took to the airwaves for an uninterrupted reporting of the events that followed the shooting in Dallas.  It really was the first time the American people participated in a news event.  We sat transfixed in the living room of our home, eyes glued to the tiny screen that showed the images of a nation in mourning.  And we sat transfixed through the funeral that followed early the next week.  Jack Ruby's shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald - we witnessed that firsthand as well. 

Was JFK one of our great presidents?  In the eyes of many, hardly so.  His presidency was marred by personal scandals - the accounts of the women whom he bedded while in the White House is known as fact.  (Here I would strongly recommend Bill O'Reilly's book, "The Killing of Kennedy."  It is an enlightening retelling of the events of Kennedy's brief presidency through the days of the assassination.)  The one strong point in his presidency was the Cuban Missile Crisis - he did keep us out of a war with Russia over Cuba.  But JFK is remembered today for the manner in which he died.  We can only begin to guess at how effective he might have been as a president.

But, tomorrow also marks the 50th anniversary of a person who has had a greater impact upon the world than did JFK.  This man's writings - which number into the dozens - greatly influenced my own thinking, especially about matters of faith.  C.S. Lewis was one of those giants of the faith who dared to challenge our faith and our thinking.  If you have not read "Mere Christianity," I highly recommend that you do.  Lewis will give you insights that will challenge you and yet, at the same time, strengthen your faith.  And, if you have children or grandchildren, encourage them to read "The Chronicles of Narnia," one of the most delightful series of stories ever written.  But then talk with those children or grandchildren about what they read.  Lewis had a purpose for writing those stories - it was his way of retelling the gospel, and he does it well.  The world hardly recognized C.S. Lewis when he died, but the British people are honoring this great man of letters and faith by placing a statue of him in Poets' Corner in Westminster Cathedral.  It is an honor Lewis highly deserved.

Speaking of honor, I cannot fail to share a few words about the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address.  Many have declared that this quite possibly is the greatest speech in the English language.  Lincoln, in a mere 272 words, did something that the featured speaker that day, a man named Edward Everett - one of the great orators of the day - did not do in two hours.  The Gettysburg Address is a great summation of America's history - including its foundational principles - "our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."  It is also a power statement about the war that had already engulfed the nation for two and a half years, and would continue for another year and a half - "Now we are engaged in a great civil war testing whether that nation or any nation could long endure."  And Lincoln closed with one of the most powerful statement concerning American republicanism - "that government of the people, by the people, for the people should not perish from the earth." 

When Lincoln finished speaking the response was tepid.  Even Lincoln, within his speech, stated that "the world will little note nor long remember what we say here."  Yet, as reports of the speech began to be published in one newspaper after another, the people began to know that this was a special speech.  One speaks with the same hushed reverence about the Gettysburg Address as one does with the Declaration of Independence. 

This is a week to sit down and reflect upon America's past.  Two events, separated in time by a century, yet whose influence is still felt today.  Both involving men who led America during dark days.  Both involving men whose lives were cut short by the assassin's bullet.  I remember one for what he said.  I remember the other for how he died.  And I remember C.S. Lewis for his impact upon my faith.