Searching For Sanctuary

High Ideals

Our days in Washignton D.C. were marvelous. We merely scratched the surface of finding and exploring the monuments, memorials, statues, museums, displays, reinactments, public forums, concerts, theatre, eateries, and all else that makes up this magnificent capitol city.

We arrived at our hotel around 8:30 p.m. It was located about two blocks south of the Mall and about halfway between the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building. After getting setup in our room, we got a bite to eat at the hotel cafe and then returned to our room for a good night's sleep before we started the many hours of walking for the week.

As we ventured out in the morning, we were almost shocked to see the Captiol Building right there before our eyes, gleaming in the morning sun. There it was. We hurried over to walk around this gorgeous building and grounds. It was mid-morning, so there already many large groups of just graduated 8th graders having their picture taken on the Capitol steps. Everyone seemed generally well behaved.

What I had not realized before actually being there is that the rear of the Captiol faces the long stretch of the Mall, that the building's front is on the other side. Across from the Capitol is the Supreme Court Building with it's iconic statement "Justice for all under law," an ideal whose realization is a work in progress. Next door is the Library of Congress Building. A dignified exterior.

On our way back to the Mall I am pretty certain I caught a climpse of former Secretary of State Madeline Albright exiting the Senate side of the Capitol with an aid at her side. Cool.

Well, I won't give you a minute by minute account of our wanderings in "the District." The highlight of our explorations are these: the Holocaust Museum; the National Art Gallery; the Lincoln Memorial; the WWII Memorial; the Viet Nam War Memorial; the FDR Memorial; the Air and Space Museum.

I will say this about the Holocaust Museum that the reminders of the horrors and murder by the Nazi regime against the Jews and all the other groups of people made me weep. I can only imagine that it breaks the heart of God the Creator to see his creation destroying itself with hate and violence. May I have the courage and strength to stand against such injustice if called upon.

I left Washington D.C. with renewed gratitude that I have the privilege to have been born in this great land. That the architects of our nation had the intelligence, historical insight, and courage to fashion a governance ruled by law and not by lineage. America is not perfect, never will be, but we truly do have the hope of pursuing high ideals.