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Consider This
By Mona Lease
Hi, all!! A reader requested this. In the din and clamor surrounding
our Presidential Election - I wondered if maybe another look at the
"beginning" might afford us more clarity. On the Statue of Liberty -
which used to be loving dubbed "Our Fair Lady" signifying hope
and promise - is a plaque which reads:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe
free, The retched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the
homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden
door." Emma Lazarus
Some fun facts are: 1)The Stature of Liberty is also known as Lady
Liberty. 2)It was built to remember the Independence Day of America.
3)France sent it to be a symbol of friendship between them and us (the
USA). France had sent troops to help us achieve our independence and
"Lady Liberty" was their way of applauding our victory in style.
4)France made the statue and we made the pedestal on which she stands.
5)It took nine years to make Lady Liberty. 6)Lady Liberty is made of
copper. 7)The first replica was a fourth the size of the one we now
own. 8)In her left hand is a tablet with the date July 04, 1776 - the
date we were freed from British rule. 9)Ronald Reagan - as President -
directed the renovation of Lady Liberty 100 years after it's assembly
in the USA. 10)It took 214 crates to get Lady Liberty to the USA. 11)A
replica of Lady Liberty is in Paris, France (if she was not harmed in
the Paris attacks this year). 12)Her actual name is "Liberty
Enlightening the World."
Let number 12 sink in your thoughts for a moment. Liberty
(freedom) Enlightening (showing) the World.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses"...tired and poor
are self-explanatory. Huddled masses is defined as: "to huddle together
as from cold or fear, or for protection." Masses is a large
group. So - we have: a large group of people huddled together from cold
or fear, for protection. "Yearning to breathe free" means: Free to make
your own life - your own way (legal, of course), It means to be what
you want to be - not be a butcher because your ancestors were all
butchers. It means going to whatever church you want to attend and not
the one in your neighborhood - or going to no church at all. "The
wretched refuse of your teeming shore" is: Wretched is a very poor or
unhappy state. Refuse is generally a person or persons striving to
overcome a hardship (in their country....physical, mental disorder,
etc). Teeming shore is: Teeming means "abundantly filled
with"...as in living things. A shore is the land at the edge of a body
of water and can be considered farther inward than just the edge - so
teeming shore could be an area abundantly filled with people striving
to overcome something. "Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me"
is: Tempest-tost means to be pounded by adversities. So this is people
who were hit by adversity many time over and are now homeless. "I lift
up my lamp beside the golden door" is: A lamp lights the way or marks
an important spot. A golden door is a "gateway" into a place of promise
and opportunity for all - it's no secret - it's marked by a lamp
or beacon...that beckons to those on the water and leads the way."
To put this together, the plaque on Lady Liberty is calling to: "People
that are tired - that are poor - that are huddled together from fear,
cold and for protection - that are striving to overcome hardships
(mental or physical) from a land that is too full to support them -
people who have been battered again and again and now have no home -
send these to the USA - the golden door is open - look for the lamp."
In 1880 - Federal Census reports indicated that America had 50 million
people. In 2015 - Federal Census reports that the state of New York had
19,795,791 people.
Remember the kiddies and our service people. Take good care of the
furry and feathered ones out there. Be safe and healthy. See ya next
time. Ever Toodles!! MONA
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