Saturday, May 08, 2021 1:00 am
Our enduring symbol
Timothy S. Goeglein
The chaos that often defines contemporary life can send all of us looking for signposts of continuity, stability, beauty, faith, sacrifice, service, patriotism and duty. It s mostly immaterial in this quest whether a person s worldview is grounded in progressivism or traditionalism.
An anchor of familiarity and the things of the human spirit are the ineluctable longings of which I write. These are the things that bind us together as a community in an era of polarization and sometimes toxic difference.
Such a moment occurred in the very center of Fort Wayne on a chilly, autumnal day in 1897 – an otherwise consequential year: William McKinley had been inaugurated the 25th president of the United States in March; the first Boston Marathon had been run; and Ulysses Grant s Tomb had been dedicated in New York City.