As the ceremony was about to begin, a group of
flags began to gather behind us. They were the flags that represented
the 36 infantries, armored, and airborne divisions that liberated the
camps of victimized Jews and POWs. I never thought of that important
aspect of World War II.
The army band started the ceremony
with the entrance of the flags. It was definitely different from what I
grew up with dad being in the air force. There were 4 speakers that
played different roles in the holocaust museum. Then there came Elie Wiesel. He was an old slow little man with a strong accent and bold
personality. His tribute was to remind us of how we cannot forget what
happen and need to continue to tell the next generation the stories we
hear and are told. Then Bill Clinton spoke. He was getting old : ) His
relationship with Elie has lasted the past 20 years based of learning
and remembering together.
It was a very moving ceremony. One
of the speakers told us that there was about 800 survivors and 150
veterans there with us today! Wow I did not realize that there was so
many! What an experience!
Besides the ceremony, there was a
schedule events throughout the day. One was the new exhibit that was
opened for the first time this weekend called Some
were Neighbors: Collaboration and Complicity in the Holocaust. There
were three types of people this exhibit that they described: pro-nazi,
onlooker, and anti-nazi. The nazis themselves were the S.S, the S.A, the
Hitler youth, and people who joined the nazi party. They were cruel and
found pleasure in torturing the Jews. The onlookers were the ones who
were not particularly fond of the nazis but were afraid of doing
anything to fight against the nazis. The anti-nazis were the ones that
fought against the nazis and their horrible deeds. They were a teacher
who hid Jewish students. They were the ones who sponsor Jews to leave
the county to go to the united states. They were the ones who hid people
and risked their lives. Which one would I be?
This is
something that I have been REALLY thinking about alot lately. For the
ones who pay attention to the news, I believe very soon that our lives are not going
to be the same. We are going to loose our freedoms, our freedom of
speech, our freedom to bare arms, our freedom of religion. I dont know when but it seems so soon. How will I respond? Just like War World II with the Japanese, the Germans, the Russians, and probably most likely even the Americans, men are naturally evil. War brings out the worse in people. When life is unsettling, it makes people anxious and unsettled and become selfish thinking only of themselves. I have not lost my freedoms and war is not going on but anyone who knows me, I can be a selfish person. Over the smallest things, I can be so self-centered. But this last semester at Teen Club at church, we have been studying every scripture pertaining to the word gospel. I have been enjoying it learning about Paul and how he was motivated by the gospel. I am no where near that. I allow the things of this world to affect me. I allow fear and pride and anger to influence me. To be honest, sometimes it just comes out and right after I do it, I feel so convicted. Am I not living by grace? Am I still the one who wants to be in control? I dont like it but I really allow it. But I believe God is planting something in my heart. He is leading me. He is directing me. Is it going to be forced upon me like Turkey when I was 14 or Grace Children's Home? Or can I just learn it? Take a leap of faith and trust in God and allow the gospel to motivate me. Now I need to remind you that I am NO WHERE near this at all. I am humbling come before God about this. I am yearning and praying for that transformation in my life. No more Netflix. Less of Facebook. More of God's word. More of telling others about Christ. The time is seriously coming. What am I going to do? Just like the museum's motto: What YOU do matters.
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