Regional Gathering Emmitsburg, MD

This weekend FOCUS missionaries from the Eastern Region (Navy, Maryland, George Mason, Belmont Abbey, Vanderbilt, North Florida, Vermont, Ramapo, Seton Hall, Pitt, Temple, and Mount St. Mary's) gathered for a time of fellowship and rejuvenation in Emmitsburg, MA in upper Maryland. In addition to a great time with my brothers and sisters, I had the privilege of visiting Gettysburg, PA. The Gettysburg Foundation had recently redone its museum, and it was certainly a treat. It's winding halls wove me through the Civil War's intricate yet brutal history. Through a great combination of artifacts, primary documents and quotes, and multimedia education, I was engrossed in the story as it narrated the events leading up to the historic battle that shaped so much of our history.

The personal accounts, the various articles like belt-buckles, muskets, bayonets, uniforms, letters, journals, and knapsacks impressed me deeply. And it was not without sadness that I reflected on our nation that stands still so divided on human rights, more than 150 years after so many suffered and shed their blood for strikingly similar reasons. One side fought obstinately for the repression and brutal subjugation of an entire race of human beings. The other struggled for liberty and justice for all human life. Some problems continue, even in our "modern, enlightened" age to plague our society. An interesting fact (pace the democratic party), did you know the republican party was formed specifically during this time of civil unrest in the mid 1800s to take the platform against slavery, arguing that all men are created free?