Liberty Enlightening the World

Did you know the title of this blog entry is the actual name of the Statue of Liberty? We had a fun time over three days learning about the Statue of Liberty. There is so much symbolism in all of her. I asked all three of the children what they learned about the Statue of Liberty. Andrew said, "She is on an island in the water somewhere. Cynthia is as tall as her nose and I am as tall as the middle of her mouth if you cut my head off!" Cynthia could remember that she has seven points on her crown. She said, "The Statue of Liberty has one foot raised to make it look like she is walking and her foot is 25 feet long. Her book says "July 4, 1776." And she has a flashlight (torch!). She represents freedom for our country." Lee said, "The Statue of Liberty stands on an island off of New York. Andrew, without his head, is as tall as the center of her mouth, Cynthia is as tall as her nose, and Caleb is the size of how wide her eye is. She was made in France to represent freedom. The broken chains under her raised foot stand for the slaves being freed. The seven points on her crown stand for the 7 continents and there are 25 windows that stand for all the natural gemstones found on the earth. She was finished ten years late."

Again, I am so proud of what they learned! We really enjoyed measuring their heights and comparing them to measurements of the Statue of Liberty. I don't think they will ever foget the measurement of Andrew "without his head" being as tall as her mouth! I think this helped put into perspective for them how tall she really is! Did you know she sways 3 inches when the wind blows 50 mph? The Statue of Liberty was the idea of a Frenchman in 1865, at the end of the Civil War and almost 100 years after American won it's independence. At a party, several Frenchmen were discussing the "two sisters" of France and America. They had great admiration for America's success in gaining their independence and establishing their government and abolishing slavery. They talked about the close ties between the two countries and their love of liberty. The host of the party, Edouard Laboulaye posed the question, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if people in France gave the United States a great monument as a lasting memorial to independence and thereby showed that the French government was also dedicated to the idea of human liberty?" And with that, the idea was planted in the mind of Bartholdi, a sculptor. In 1871, he visited the U.S. and was amazed with the view as he sailed into New York Harbor. He decided that would be the perfect spot for the statue because that was "where people get their first view of the New World." Because of funding problems, the Statue of Liberty was finished 10 years later than desired. The French wanted it to be a gift for the 100 year celebration of independence of the U.S. The man who designed the Eiffel Tower is the same man who designed the actual structure under the "clothing" of the Statue of Liberty. As Lee remembered, the Statue was built in France and then taken apart and shipped to the U.S. in 350 pieces! It took four months to put her together. In 1889, a 1/4 scale replica of the Statue of Liberty was presented to the French people as a gift, which still stands close to the Eiffel Tower. In 1916, the Statue was closed for about a week when Germans blew up some dynamite close by which popped out some of the bolts in the Statue's right arm. After she was re-opened, the arm was made "off-limits" to tourists. Emma Lazaurs wrote a poem to help raise money for the construction of the base where the Statue of Liberty was placed. She said (as most of us memorized in school), "Give me your tired, you poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" I have recited these words many times and thought what a great object in our history to represent what we as Americans have - freedom which came at such a great cost. While studying for this lesson, I couldn't help but think what a great object we as Christians also possess - the cross, which also came at such great cost. The cross is God's way of saying, "Give me your tired and poor souls, yearning to be free of sin and guilt, the refuse in your life, Give yourself to me, I lift the Light of the World to show the way!" Tears sting my eyes as I so desire to be able to share the Light of the World with the many lost souls that pass by me each day but yet I cannot because of the language barrier. Please pray for us as we continue to learn more language, culture and customs, and more of what they believe in order to be able to share with them more effectively.

Don't forget where your freedoms came from - your American freedom and your Christian freedom. History is HIS story and He has placed you where you are to honor and glorify Him.