Recently, a friend sent me a most profound photo she had seen on the Internet. I was so moved by the picture that I posted it on my Facebook cover page where it remains today and I invite you to look at it.
The picture is of a bald eagle perched on a tombstone in a military cemetery. The picture was taken by an amateur photographer, Frank Glick, who was on his way to work one morning in the early spring of 2011.
He was driving through Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minnesota when he saw it, a huge eagle perched on a tombstone, its eyes alert, its head craned, looking for prey. He grabbed his ever present Nikon camera, and got the perfect shot.
He shared the picture with a co-worker and they decided to try to track down the family of the man whose name was on that tombstone. After doing extensive research, they were able to locate Vivian Ruch, widow of Maurie Ruch who had served four years in the U.S. Army Air Corps in WW2 and earned a bronze star. We can only imagine what it meant to her to eventually receive a large print of this photo from the photographer.
The picture moved me to tears the first time I saw it. In the solemn stillness of the cemetery, with the sun shining through the spring’s early morning haze, it seemed to me the eagle looked very sad, as if mourning the loss of so many American lives reflected by the tombstones which stretched as far as you can see in the photo.
But the symbolism of this thought continues to stay with me as I watch the daily news, and I sometimes wonder if the eagle will continue to fly.
Then I remember one of the stories from America’s history.
It was 1787, and the Constitutional Convention, meeting in Philadelphia, seemed hopelessly deadlocked in an environment of divisiveness, hostility, anger and bitterness.
Then Benjamin Franklin, the 81 year old statesman, stood and quietly spoke.
“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection….and they were graciously answered.
And have we now forgotten this powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?
The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it…..I believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little partial local interests, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages.
I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business.”
Would any of us, celebrating our nation’s history now in 2012, venture to deny that this was the turning point for the greatest document the free human mind has ever produced? I think not.
And with all the division and rancor we see on the news each day among our political leaders of all persuasions, is it possible that our great U.S. Constitution with its Bill of Rights is in danger of being torn to shreds before our very eyes?
I submit to you that the eagle has reason to be sad, not just for the lives lost in so many wars, but for the blurred and fading vision of those men who sat in a room enduring the sultry steaming heat of the summer of 1787 and called themselves to prayer.
If it was prayer that saved our nation 225 years ago, why are we trying every man-made and ill-conceived method of saving our nation today, and ignoring the God who alone has the power to intervene for us now?
Our prayer today should be, in the inspired words of lyricist Daniel C. Roberts: “ From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence, be Thy strong arm our ever sure defense. Thy true religion in our hearts increase, Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace. Thy love divine hath led us in the past, in this free land by Thee our lot is cast. Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide and Stay, Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.”
Then and only then will the American bald eagle lift his head proudly and soar through the skies as the symbol of a free and majestic nation, a nation not only proud of her own excellence but willing and able to share that excellence and her bounty with the entire world.
Yes, the eagle can still fly, but only on the wings of the prayers of the American people.
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
©Joan Rowden Hart 2017
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