A City that Remembers

We drove up and down the downtown area and were drawn to the large building with many steps leading to the beautifully carved wooden doors. On top of the building were statues of frontiersmen, pioneer women, Indians and soldiers from both sides of the Civil War. 

Around the building was a grassy area with various monuments and statues commemorating the past.

Since it was Memorial Day, my sister and I decided to walk around the building and note the various monuments and plaques. 

There was one for Christopher Columbus, George Washington, and a governor we never heard of. He was the governor of Indiana during the Civil War and was credited for helping to keep the country together.  There was also a statue for the coal miners who were honored for their dangerous work, the thousands of lives lost and the contribution to the growing industry of Indiana!! 

I was impressed. 

Earlier in the day, we found a fun local coffee shop in an old opera house built in 1888!!! Much of the original building was still in tack. The old windows, high ceilings, the woodwork and carvings. Hanging on the walls, up and down the hallways were photos of the German immigrants who came to Indianapolis for a new life. 

They worked hard to make life better for their families and the children who would follow!!

And they were remembered. 

I got to thinking of those whose shoulders I stand upon. I did not get here alone. There were those who went before me who paved the way. 

• - Somebody cut down the trees where my house was built. 
• - Somebody built the roads that lead to my city and house so I can run to the grocery store and buy food and necessities. 
• - Somebody grows the food I eat and somebody transports it, so I can buy it.  
• - Somebody even built my house. I have no clue who they are, but I am enjoying the fruits of their labor. 

I have not even mentioned the freedoms I enjoy and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. And what about my family?!! I can only go so far back. But God knows who they are.

Thank you.

If you haven’t done so this week…and even if you had, let’s take some time to remember those upon whose shoulders we stand.

I thought it might be fun to look up the word “remember” and see how it is used in the Scriptures. Just in case you are dying to know, the word is used 161 times in the ESV. 

• - God remembers His promises to us. 
• - The Israelites were commanded by God to remember His mighty works and how He delivered them from Pharoah.
• - We are to remember that at one time we were excluded from God’s covenant, slaves to our own sins, but God has delivered us.  
• - The Israelites were instructed to remember God’s commandments and do them, and so are we. 

On the night of His death, the Lord Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper to help us remember His sacrifice. There was a cost for our freedom, and we are commanded to remember. 

“Do this in remembrance of Me.” 

Indianapolis is a city that remembers!! 

By God’s grace, let’s be a people who remember, and in the remembering let’s give thanks for those who have paved the way…and give thanks to our God, the Giver of all good gifts.  

Happy Memorial Day!!