Thanksgiving

I am not a big worrier about my grandchildren, at least, not any more than most women, but the last few days I have been worried and I'm not sure why. I have not wanted to pick up the phone when one of my kids has called, worried that there could be bad news. Well, today Maryanne called and I had that same feeling. She said "hello" and I immediately asked whether everything was all right...And it was. But it almost wasn't....She had been at the beach with the three children when a sudden storm had blown up. She had quickly gathered the children and was ready to cross the highway to go back to the beach house. All of a sudden Anna, in panic from the thunder and lightening, dashed into the highway to cross over - right in the path of two trucks, one coming from either direction. When the dust cleared, she was on the other side of the highway, but Maryanne thought she had just seen her daughter being killed....We are indeed immortal til our work for Christ is done, and I thank God for caring so well for our precious Anna. Who could replace her? May His angels continue to guard each one of these little ones we would all so readily lay down our lives for....Thank-you, Father!

On a lighter note, Dad and I drove our new car to Alabama today - first to Huntsville, then back to Chattanooga via the Cumberland Plateau. We found an exquisite little college town on acreage owned by the Anglican church. They own each building on these hundreds of acres, just leasing some for set periods...Others they reserve for themselves - an Anglican world, really. But such aesthetics! For better and for worse, liberals "do" aesthetics better than conservatives, don't they?

We are looking forward to the July 4th celebration in Chattanooga tomorrow. They symphony plays on the riverbank, then there are fireworks over the water. We sat happily for hours last year taking it all in...Apparently, some municipalities have been forced to cancel their celebrations as a cost-cutting measure but, happily, that is not the case here....Sunday, we will have a young couple from the church over for lunch -will be fun to get to know them better....

Fianlly, I am reading a book Andrew gave me about the Civil War called, "War Crimes Against Southern Civilians". Southerners, of course, feel the war was as much about states rights as slavery, and feel they were most unjustly trodden underfoot. They were also subjected to systematic brutalization from the north. The author quotes a prominent southern abolitionist in his forward:
The principle, on which the war was waged by the north, was simply this: That men may rightfully be compelled to submit to, and support, a government that they do not want; and that resistance, on their part, makes them traitors and criminals.
No principle, that is possible to be named, can be more self-evidently fatal to all political freedom. Yet it triumphed in the field, and is now assumed to be established. If it really be established, the number of slaves, in stead of having been diminished by the war, has been greatly increased; for a man, thus subjected to a government he does not want, is a slave.

A little addendum to this topic: We were listening to NPR on the way home and they had audio of the 75th anniversary reunion of some surviving soldiers from the Battle of Gettysburg - in 1938...One of the Confederates gave the Rebel cry - the only recording anywhere of that. You can find it on video on Youtube....