By Jerry Bullock
Columbus Day ... Oh for the simpler times when we learned that "In fourteen hundred ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue," and we were proud of it. I remember him as the intrepid visionary sailor who believed the world was round when conventional wisdom said it was flat and who had enough faith in his belief to get aboard a ship and sail away.
Now we find that he brought evil and pestilence to this new world and should be roundly condemned for his efforts. He should have just stayed home. Another hero destroyed by the modern revisionist historian bent on making the world of the 15th century comply with the political correctness of the 21st century.
Well, I'm sorry but I for one am glad he came. Our forefathers may have made some mistakes and might does not make right but I am glad they expanded their world and ours.
I am glad that Christopher proved that the world was round. I know the ancients knew that long before Christopher and that the truth was hidden by the obstinence of the church in Western Europe. I know that Leif Eriksson probably sailed along the eastern coast of America long before Columbus and that ages before him people crossed the Bering Strait and moved across the continent. None of that takes away from the daring of Columbus and his gallant crew.
There are people today who still believe the earth is flat. Some who believe the moon landings were nothing more than an Orson Wellesian dramatic presentation made into a TV miniseries. I am glad that there are those who are willing to go "where no man has gone before," men and women who circumnavigate the globe in space shuttles, balloons, airplanes and under the seas. They are all living examples of the inquisitive spirit that set Columbus on his trek across the Atlantic.
How dull the world would be if there were no spirit of inquisitive unrest that drives people to new frontiers. How sad it would be if that spirit were to die for fear of the unfortunate outcomes that may attend the adventure. How fickle we are in our condemnation when accidents and failures occur. All high adventure is fraught with danger. No great thing can be accomplished unless there are men and women willing to risk their all.
I for one will hail Columbus as I did in a more innocent age when I was a child and the world still counted old Christopher a hero. He will always be a hero to me and I am glad he came. I am glad that he set the stage for many new nations and from those nations has come far more good than ill.
We give him one holiday each year. It has become a time of sales and shopping so when you think of old Chris have good thoughts about a great man who, if nothing else, meant well.
Jerry Bullock has written his weekly column for the Daily Record for more than 20 years. Jerry is a retired Air Force colonel, an ordained Baptist minister, professional counselor, military historian, speaker, and writer. He is a native Texan tracing his Texas roots to the days of the Republic.
