Ten hours ago, I walked throughout the rooms of castles built hundreds of years ago from red sand stone in the beautiful land of Scotland. Now I am sitting in row nineteen, seat A, inside of a jumbo a jet. This metal plane holds over two hundred people, and it can fly over thousands of miles in several hours. Outside my window I see the footprints of the past intermingled with the new possibilities of the future.
Experiencing these realities in one day makes me wonder what will happen over the next fifty or one hundred years. What will change for our good or bad? What will remain the same in nature and the character and hearts of people?
For the past two weeks, my husband and I toured Scotland’s villages, ruins, battle fields, religious sites, memorials, and castles. We learned about their history, and we were moved by the stories entangled in their folk songs. The history of Scotland like other countries is full of pain, fighting, oppression, poverty, and corruption of power on the one hand, and yet you see the pride in their heritage and country renewed by their inventors, writers, philosophers, and brave people who brought justice and peace.
When I think of Scotland, I see a clan leader adorned in his kilt and grandeur playing the bag pipes with all his heart on the top of a grand rock overlooking the valley. In the background, screen shots of rolling green hills spotted with sheep and topped with purple, lavender reel past. As he continues to play, castles in ruin, castles restored, Loch’s of waterways, ocean waves crashing on the shore while boats bob on the surface continue to scroll in the back ground. At the end of the song, I see the love of his life, his lassie, running into his arms.
The rich mixture of Scotland’s history reminds me how every place, belief, and person is the result of what came before. This same process is the reality of every country and person. So the question remains, what will we do with what we have learned? Will we choose to do all we can to bring life or will we bring death? No matter what answer we choose, they will hold a consequence for us, for our future, and the generations to come. What will they say about you? Most importantly, what do you want them to say about you?
