Tear Down This Wall-Part 1

By Linda Grupp Boutin

I have been considering George Washington this afternoon. How does someone develop an idea, totally new and different that defies the ostensible authority of the day? When he sat in Valley Forge, did he question what in the world he was doing? Or was the pain of freezing cold, inadequate supplies and overwhelming numbers against him what occupied his thoughts? I find it nearly impossible to put myself in Washington's boots. Intuitively I understand that this man thought audacious ideas and had the perseverance to see it through.

Washington spent long days of his youth surveying the countryside. A surveyor must study the landscape around them and then carefully measure and record what is seen. From his observations, he understood that the area that would become the United States was a huge place. Did he take solace in the fact that the entire Atlantic Ocean created a huge distance between the U.S. and England?

I must admit that it's pretty much impossible for me to wrap my head around how George took his audacious vision and turned it into reality for all of us. So let me talk a bit about a later president, one who I remember from my lifetime, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President. I had an awareness of Reagan long before he became my president. First I heard of him as an actor and not one with the very best of movie roles on his bio. He surprised me quite a bit when he landed the position of Governor of California and I began to pay a bit more attention. But really, an actor turned politician running for president? Sounds ridiculous to say the least.

Yet Reagan gained the title of The Great Communicator and possibly all that time studying scripts and learning dialog helped him understand how to reach an audience. There was a whole lot more to this actor turned governor and eventually president than I had given him credit for. And like so many of the other strong voices in my lifetime, just 69 days after his inauguration he too took a bullet for his country. Another assassination attempt in my memory, I happened to be watching the news as it broke.

Just like with JFK, the Secret Service rushed Reagan to the hospital and once again we waited hours on end to see if this president would survive his wound. I've heard it said that had that bullet pierced Reagan's chest just one inch further over, his heart would have been destroyed. But this was a man with a very strong heart and will to live. After Reagan survived his too-close shave with death, in 1987 he gave a speech at the Brandenburg Gate. He shared the audacious spirit of our first president when he challenged the leader of the now defunct USSR, "Mr. Gorbachev, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Do you remember or did you learn about it in history class? Reagan dared his adversary to tear down the Berlin wall that had stood since 1961 while the USSR controlled East Berlin. It still amazes me that our president had the strength of character to directly challenge a wrong that had lasted over 25 years. His audacious and bold thought led to an eventual destruction of an arbitrary wall separating a city for decades. Reagan abhorred communism and did his best to correct the injustice he saw in the world. He was not a perfect president, no frail human can ever reach perfection. But for those families living in Berlin and trying to just visit family, he made a difference with his words. Just a couple of years after Reagan's speech, I rejoiced with the rest of the world when the Berliners tore that wall down brick by brick. He returned to Berlin in 1990 and took a couple of symbolic swings with a hammer to the remnants of this wall himself.

So how about you? Do you dare to dream an audacious dream? Have you raised your voice with concern about a problem you see? A friend of mine is working on a special project. She admires those who have helped others through adoption. She has conceived an idea to share this information on the internet with video clips. It's a tough assignment she's undertaken. And whether she brings it to fruition or not, I must admire her for trying. For raising her voice to speak about something she believes in and helping others find the resources they need to try adoption for their family.

For me, I am taking baby steps forward. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, I saw many people in their own ways trying to find some way to help this situation. After a lifetime spent punctuated with shooting after shooting, assassination after assassination, I have called my Representative and Senators to pledge my solidarity in an assault weapon ban. The only persons justified in carrying guns that can shoot 30-100 bullets at a time are soldiers fighting for our freedom. I don't care what the NRA yells about Second Amendment rights. I don't want to hear about any more first and second graders being dismembered in their classrooms by someone with a gun that can fire dozens of shots before reloading. A law may not stop the next gunman who steps out of the shadows to take another's life, but it surely is a place to start as a society to say that, "We are just not going to take it anymore! Stop the shooting and stop the killing!"

Thanks to Wikipedia for helping me fact-check my memory! http://en.wikipedia.org