This past week I had the opportunity to visit the Alamo.  I had been to it before, but it was during my late twenties.  Now I feel in my midlife I’ve had an extra measure of solemn perspective.

You see, just across the street from the Alamo is a tourist trap….Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, Hall of Mirrors, Wax Museum….you know the usual Gatlinburg tourist fare. But somehow I think that this sacred ground which between 182 to 257 Texans lost their lives (and between 400 – 600 Mexican casualties).  Except for women and children, those Texans who were captured, were executed and their bodies were burned by Santa Ana. Should we necessarily celebrate this with shrunken heads or mirror mazes?

And how far into the future should we make light of tragedies?  Pee Wee Herman didn’t do the Alamo any justice, just like others making a joke about “Mrs. & Mrs. Lincoln, don’t go see that play.”  Or Reagan making a joke “Honey, I forgot to duck,” when 3 others were wounded in the assassination attempt.

Who knows, 20 or 50 or 100 years from now we might be making fun of the Las Vegas massacre, the World Trade Center terrorist or the like. (And yes I know some people do still make fun of the 9/11 tragedy; but most still see that tragedy as a solemn tragedy).

Further on down the road is a cathedral which houses the remains of Travis, Crockett and Bowie, men who died fighting for freedom at the Alamo.  This should be our perspective, not a mirror maze or a wax museum.