This is a fairly constant theme in the South. One finds it fleshed out very recently in an essay by Mr Travis Holt. Here are a couple of word-sharings from it:
Once there was a common theme among our
ancestors, and it was a simple one: land is the most valuable thing a man can
possess, aside from a good relationship with the Creator himself, and a healthy
family. However, I have found that having land helps both these other ideals,
and for good reason.
. .
.
I grew up literally across the creek from
where my 4th Great Grandfather’s house still stands to this day.
Land, even before I knew the concept well, was instrumental in shaping who I am
and who my people were. For generations in Newton County, my ancestors and
their neighbors shared the same bond that strongly bonded Appalachia. They
became tight knit communities with their neighbors, many times intermarrying
and becoming kin. This true essence of community became synonymous with life in
the Ozarks; small bands of people who looked out for each other and were
extremely wary, if not downright hostile, to outsiders. These were people who
were in tune with nature and the way of the land. And they knew the true key to
independent living was one thing: land ownership.
. .
.
--https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/blog/thirty-pieces-of-silver/
The
concern now is the growing disloyalty to those types of things all across the
South. Again from Mr Holt:
Before long, the older generation had sold
off huge tracts of farms to newcomers. Still-standing homesteads were left to
outsiders; heritage and tradition fell behind the ‘almighty dollar’ as many
locals decided that they would rather have a little more comfort than continue
on in the stead of those who came before them. In a few decades, many of the
founding stock’s holdings had nearly disappeared! Their children moved off to
cities, many of the older folks did the same to be close to them, and the farms
were turned over to people who would rebuild and modify them in ways the owners
could’ve never envisioned (nor would they want to). Old homesteads were
renovated or razed; fences moved; graveyards lost. All the hallmarks of
progress are here in the Ozarks for the world to see. While some of the
newcomers were good and true stewards of the land, many more were not.
It breaks my heart to gaze out, when I go
home, and see all the new ‘rental cabins’ springing up in every once beautiful
meadow and on every once-clear mountain peak. This commercialization of our
heritage is lucrative, yes, but to what end would a man sell his heritage? To
what would it benefit you to make money whilst forgetting the ways of your
ancestors or to spit on tradition for the sake of a newer vehicle or a bigger
home?
One
of the early essays we put together for this site was about the close kinship
of the Southern and Serbian historical experiences:
http://confiterijournal.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-battles-of-kosovo-and.html
And
once again we see this kinship being affirmed as folks in Serbia, too, are
expressing what Mr Holt has written:
His Grace Bishop Teodosije of Raška and
Prizren of the Serbian Orthodox Church published an appeal yesterday to his
flock in Kosovo and Metohije, imploring them not to leave their homes, thereby
abandoning their holy churches, monasteries, and cemeteries as well.
The Orthodox faithful of Kosovo live under
the constant threat of persecution and attacks against themselves, their homes,
and their holy sites.
“The Serbian Orthodox people have lived in
the lands of Stara Raška, Kosovo and Metohije for centuries, where the deepest
roots of our spiritual existence spread, embodied in the numerous holy sites of
our Church,” His Grace opens his appeal, published by the Diocese of Raška and
Prizren.
The holy sites have “shone like beacons”
for centuries in Kosovo, showing that the Orthodox people belong there, Bp.
Teodosije says, adding that they seek only to preserve what belongs to them.
The land, inherited by the present generation through the suffering of their
ancestors, is no mere land, His Grace adds.
“Following the covenant of St. Lazar … I
paternally urge our faithful people to stay at their centuries-old homes and
not to leave to other people the property that our ancestors saved and
preserved with difficulty during the most difficult times of Turkish rule,
during numerous wars and disasters. This is not ordinary land that can be sold
or bought; it is land sown with the bones of our ancestors, consecrated by
prayers, sprinkled with the tears of laborers and drenched in the blood of
martyrs,” he writes.
The Orthodox faithful should remain in
their Kosovo homes and thus become “guardians of our identity and our holy
sites,” His Grace implores. The Orthodox faith has protected the people for
centuries “in the whirlwind of historic events,” making them the people of God
and heirs to the great saints who have shone forth in Kosovo.
All the faithful are united in Christ “as
one body and one soul,” Bp. Teodosije writes, and while a family may improve
its lot externally by selling its home, it makes the situation harder for those
Orthodox Serbs remains, he warns. “Is this temporary consolation comparable to
the consciousness and remorse that we have thus aggravated the situation of our
relatives and neighbors?” he asks.
In conclusion, His Grace calls on his flock
to manifest Christian patience and love, remembering the Lord’s words: For what is a man profited, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mt. 16:26).
--https://orthochristian.com/134167.html
May
the merciful Lord grant that Serbia and the South would draw ever closer to one
another and uphold one another in every way possible as both peoples seek to
protect all that is truly valuable in this life.
--
Holy
Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema
to the Union!
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