Thousands upon thousands of people have tread past this scene at one time or another without giving it any thought…including me probably on a few occasions. It looks like just a bunch of old looking guys, politicians perhaps?…and soldiers. But on this day I focused on it for some reason and became intrigued by this bronze relief that is set into the wall flanking the stairs on the east entrance to the Old State House building. I’m told this is a representation of Governor Morton, who was the governor of Indiana during the Civil War in the 1860′s, addressing the troops from Indiana. At first I was drawn to the intricate details and features which really are quite remarkable…especially when you consider how old this is. But then I got to thinking that this must have been a very important event to some back then. Something so important, so pivotal, that they wanted to immortalize the moment, saving it for future citizens to consider. So, I guess I’ve fallen into their scheme.
So I got to thinking…the Civil War was the most tumultuous of times in our history as a country. What could be more traumatic for a nation than people fighting their fellow countrymen. Hard for me to imagine something like that now, but that’s what was happening then. They wanted us to remember the importance of that time in our history. So the bronze relief that adorns the state house has completed it’s mission on me at least on this occasion.
Then it dawned on me, especially as it is July 3rd…the only thing that could be equal or possibly even more traumatic as a nation would be fighting your fellow countrymen from England for independence beginning in 1776. We live today in a world shaped by wars that others have fought before us. We do so without much thought to those that have given their lives so that we could live ours. We set off a few firecrackers, light some sparklers and shoot off a roman candle or two in celebration, but the reason why we do it falls by the wayside. And that’s OK usually. I’m sure they would want us to be enjoying ourselves and having the freedom to live how we want, including choosing what we want to remember.
