Happy Christopher Columbus Day!

Sadly, I still have to work even though it is a holiday. Schools, banks, and the post office didn't have to drag their sorry butts out of bed today. I can hardly keep my eyes open!

I do like this holiday though. I remember celebrating it when I was in elementary school ... apparently back then they still taught history and a feeling of pride in one's country.

Was he a great man? By today's standards ... no probably not. Maybe not even by the standards of his day. But he did lead an age of discovery...

At the end of 1492 most men in Western Europe felt exceedingly gloomy about the future. Christian civilization appeared to be shrinking in area and dividing into hostil units as its sphere contracted. For over a century there had been no important advance in natural science and registration in the universities dwindled as the instruction they offered became increasingly jejune and lifeless. Institutions were decaying, well-meaning people were growing cynical or desperate, and many intelligent men, for want of something better to do, were endeavoring to escape the present through studying the pagan past. . . .

Yet, even as the chroniclers of Nuremberg were correcting their proofs from Koberger's press, a Spanish caravel named Nina scudded before a winter gale into Lisbon with news of a discovery that was to give old Europe another chance. In a few years we find the mental picture completely changed. Strong monarchs are stamping out privy conspiracy and rebellion; the Church, purged and chastened by the Protestant Reformation, puts her house in order; new ideas flare up throughout Italy, France, Germany and the northern nations; faith in God revives and the human spirit is renewed. The change is complete and startling: "A new envisagement of the world has begun, and men are no longer sighing after the imaginary golden age that lay in the distant past, but speculating as to the golden age that might possibly lie in the oncoming future."

Christopher Columbus belonged to an age that was past, yet he became the sign and symbol of this new age of hope, glory and accomplishment. His medieval faith impelled him to a modern solution: Expansion. -borrowed from an Instapundit Post-

I don't think it is necessary to white wash Columbus' accomplishments by ignoring his transgressions. But I do think it important to honor his quest of exploration.

So Happy Exploring to everyone!