Ascension : News From The Grotto - Thought For The Week
Submitted by The Islander (Shari Parkhill) 26.04.2007 (Article Archived on 10.05.2007)

As everyone probably knows, I am an avid hasher. This weekend the hash took us from the US Base out to the site of the old hydoponics farm.

It was a lesson in Ascension history.  We were told a fascinating story of how the military undertook a rather remarkable project, that of growing vegetables in one of the most arid places on earth.  They built a large farm with interconnecting pipes, a desalination plant to produce water for irrigation, and coverings to protect the plants from the brutal sun.  And they achieved an engineering victory, and grew a large supply of vegetables.  It was a project that had far-reaching effects, and enabled the military to put the lessons learned here on Ascension into practice in other dry parts of the world.

In another foray into my own personal history, I am starting to investigate my family ancestry on my maternal grandfather’s side.  While I was home recently, my cousin and I unearthed some old correspondence between an aunt and some distant relatives.  I am trying to resurrect this link with these cousins and see what we can discover about this side of the family.

The readings that we listen to every week from the Bible are another sort of history.  In the readings from the New Testament, we are hearing stories about how Jesus and His disciples lived, the occasions both large and small that occurred.  In the Old Testament, we hear stories from an even earlier time.

History is what has shaped our today.  The history we learn from the bible is the history of our Christian religion.  The family history we grow up with and search for shows us where we came from and what helped make us who we are.  Why do so many of us look into our past in an effort to find out what country our ancestors originated from?  For those of us in the “New” world, even those whose families have been there for generations, we still know that our ancestors arrived from other countries.  It is a link we are almost all interested in.

History teaches us lessons.  Look at all the lessons we learn from the Bible.  For many of us it was substantial in how we were raised, it has been a moral compass for generations.  Our family history teaches us where we are from, and what experiences our parents, grandparents and earlier generations had on their path through life.  Their experiences helped to form who we are today.

The history of Ascension is a fascinating collection of stories, dating all the way back to the age of discovery.   The island’s location has been strategically important in the response to international strife in centuries past and all the way to the present.  We are blessed with interesting sites from the past, relics from an earlier time, and evidence of man’s determination to overcome the many obstacles this remote, barren island has presented, most especially the lack of water that has always plagued Ascension.  The hydroponics farm is just one of many historical sites on Ascension.  However, it is also a lesson in what happens when our history is neglected.  The site is being overtaken by the Mexican thorn trees.  They are threatening to obliterate the site in the very near future.  Just like our own lives, if we ignore our history, and the lessons from it, something bad can grow and take over.  We have to stay vigilant, and pay attention to the lessons in the Bible, lessons from our own lives, and be sure to not let anything that seeks to choke out the goodness take hold.

So this week, let us all take some time to think about not only the history lessons we find in the Bible, but the lessons from our own personal history, and take care to learn from them.  And to anyone who is interested in helping to preserve a piece of the history of our special island, volunteers are being recruited to help clear the hydroponic farm historical site of the Mexican thorn trees.  Please contact the Conservation Office or the Environmental Office at the US Base.