The Berlin Wall Anniversary

It was November 9, 1989; a day that I will never forget; the Berlin Wall was being hacked away by the citizens of East and West Germany. The horror of the Berlin Wall loomed over my childhood like a dark cloud. I grew up during the cold war, always in the back of our minds there remained a fear of total annihilation. Not a raging fear, just a small voice to remind us of our mortality. Perhaps that is why to this day I do not take anything for granted. As I was growing up I read countless stories of the brave men and women that risked or gave their lives trying to cross over from Soviet occupied East Germany into West Germany and freedom. The Soviet Union finally broke apart and the Wall was coming down. Unless you have lived during the shadow of the Wall you cannot know how much a miracle we saw taking place. The Soviets took over Russia in 1917 and spread their communist propaganda as far as they could, swallowing in it's wake all of Eastern Europe. Now it was over and all rejoiced at seeing the reunion of families torn apart by this Wall for nearly thirty years!

I have attached some photos of the wall taken in 1961. The LH picture at the top, is of the Church of the Reconciliation that was closed by the building of the Berlin Wall. The picture under it is a picture of the wall and the RH picture is of West Berliners trying to see their friends and relatives living in the East. Imagine that kind of heartbreak! I got the pictures from Berlin Wall on line. If you get a chance you may want to take a look at that web site. Very interesting. As you do, thank God that we live in the USA and thank Him too for the freedom we so richly enjoy.