For the past few years we have heard a lot of talk about walls. This is really nothing new.
Joshua 6:1-27 speaks to the Walls of Jericho, which came tumbling down in 1400 BC, when the Israelites walked around the wall for eight days carrying the Ark of the Covenant.
The Canaanites inside thought their wall to be impregnable.
The residents of Troy in ancient Greece thought their wall to be impregnable until they opened the gates for a horse full of soldiers on April 24, 1184 BC. So deception brought down that wall.
The Great Wall of China was built over a period of 200 years, starting around 700 BC to keep out the Mongol invaders from the north. While some segments remain today as tourist attractions, the Mongols certainly weren’t kept out.
Medieval cities and castles were surrounded by walls and moats to protect the inhabitants starting around 1100 AD. With the invention of the trebuchet, attackers were able to lob flaming projectiles over the walls and heavy stones that eventually broke down the walls. Tunnels also weakened foundations and months long sieges starved the inhabitants.
In more modern times, the French Maginot Line was supposed to stop the Germans, but the Panzer tanks and something called an airplane killed that defense in a few days. The Soviets put up the Berlin Wall after World War II to keep in their inhabitants. President Reagan’s entreaty “Mr Gorbachev, tear down that wall” eventually brought it down after more than 200 people died in efforts to escape to freedom.
By now, the point should be clear. Bricks and mortar walls have never achieved their goal of keeping people out ...or in, depending upon the reason for which the walls were built.
A more formidable wall is the emotional one we build around ourselves when demonized because of our national origin or color of our skin.
Even worse are the walls we put up when we become the victims of pedophilia, sexual attack or a mass shooting. These walls stay in existence for entire lives.
If there is any good news in this discussion, it is that there are solutions to the events that cause emotional walls to be built by victims or opinion makers who use these traumas for political gain. Perhaps in the next year or so, we will elect leaders who seek solutions and not divisions.
On a personal note, here is a shout out to the many people who worked on our garage project during the week of 95-plus degree heat and never missed a beat. Thanks for the hard work and dedication to getting the job done.
Roger Carlton is a columnist for The Graham Star.