A visit to Gettysburgs Museum, a viewing of the film, and the experience of seeing the Cyclorama bring to life the fierce battle that turned the tide for the Union forces to eventually win our nations Civil War. The thought of fighting in 100 temperatures in wool uniforms, of a cannonball exploding into a shrapnel spray that killed scores, of grain fields covered with more bodies than could be buried, is almost too much to take in. The fields and fences where the battles took place, and the ridges when cannons launched their devastating attacks, seem to emit an awkward silence and send visitors away wearing a heavy mantle of grief and a somber pondering of what happened.

February, the month of George Washingtons and Abraham Lincolns birthdays and the month designated as a time to study Black history, coupled with a visit to Gettysburgs battle scenes, made me realize that a war which never ended with an official armistice is continuing into our time. We are still caught up in the contests and the conflicts of inequalities between races, of poverty for many and excessive wealth of others, of political rhetoric that fires up prejudices and sets one person against another.

The Civil War, now being staged in reenactments to mark the 150th anniversary of the first shots fired at Fort Sumter (April 12-13, 1861) on into 2015 and celebrations that will build up to the anticipated finale, waits for people to speak up and urge a probing of our national mindset and pursue whatever needs to be done to end the war that is continuing in courtrooms, schools, workplaces, and political campaigns.

Where are you in your thinking? What might you do? Id like to hear from you via email kriebel1@verizon.net or Facebook.