It’s late in the evening after Yom Kippur and I’m sitting outside on an unusually pleasant night watching over the lingering flames and dying embers from the fire we made in our fire pit for a small socially distanced break-fast we had with a few neighbors to mark the end of an unusual but deeply moving day of reflection. As is often the case, and was especially so this year, I am thinking about the ways I’ve missed the mark in the past year and am seeking ways to make sure I come closer to living what I claim and believe are my core values.
It’s not clear how any of this connects with the stamp that emerged from quite slim pickings to be today’s #stampoftheday – a 2-cent stamp issued in 1931 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Yorktown, the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War. The battle, also known as the siege of Yorktown, began on September 28, 1781, when American and French troops encircled British forces in Yorktown, a strategically important location near the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. It ended less than a month later when the British surrendered.
Most people know of the battle because it is the subject of “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) in Hamilton. The “World Turned Upside Down” in the title refers to the probably apocryphal story that after the British surrendered they asked for the traditional honors of war, which would have allowed the army to march out with flags flying, bayonets fixed, and the band playing an American or French tune as a tribute to the victors. However, George Washington refused to grant that request because the British had denied them a year earlier when Americans surrendered after the siege of Charleston. Consequently, the British and Hessian troops marched with flags furled and muskets shouldered, while the band had to play “a British or German march.” Many American history books have recounted the legend that the British band played “The World Turn’d Upside Down,” an English ballad written in the 1640s as a protest against Parliament outlawed traditional Christmas celebrations because it believed the holiday should be a solemn occasion. However, many historians believe this didn’t happen.
Nevertheless, it’s worth looking at the song, particularly it’s chorus which is: “Yet let’s be content, and the times lament, you see the world turn’d upside down.”
The world has, of course “turn’d upside down” in the last six months. And I do “lament the times.” But I’d hardly say I’m “content.” Rather, I’m deeply troubled. And in that frame of mind, I take solace in the fact that the American Revolutions shows that it is possibly to overcome tremendous odds and triumph over a host of seemingly unbeatable powerful foes. So let’s work, in the next months and years, to again turn the world upside down.
Be well, stay safe, fight for justice and work for peace.