Against the invading Mexican army numbering in the thousands, 185 American soldiers and volunteers defended the fort for 13 days in order to buy time for troops further north to assemble. The story goes that in the hours of the last stand, the commanding officer James Bowie gave the thirteen men who still remained standing a choice. They could either step over a line he had drawn on the ground, and stay, and fight. Or, they could choose not to cross, and flee. All but one chose to remain. And, by the morning of that 13th day, after a surprise attack by the Mexican army at dawn, all of the last defenders lay on the ground, dead.
As I read over the names of these men engraved in marble, I wondered what was their source of bravery and sacrifice. Perhaps they knew they played a part in something that was bigger than themselves. And, perhaps, they wanted to lay down their lives for a worthy cause; remembered not only having lived for something, but also having died for it.
It's difficult to think beyond our own lives, and the fruit that can grow if we are like the seeds that die in the ground. In today's day and age when the idea of delayed gratification is giving way to "if it's delayed, it's not gratifying," it's understandable when people forgo this certain discipline, much less delay gratification for the betterment of future generations. It's a lesson I'm constantly learning... that although the work we do now seems inconsequential in the present, God will use to build His church in the future.
The Mexican army won the battle at the Alamo, but, a month later, on April 12, 1846, were badly beaten by the American troops that had gathered at San Jacinto. On that day, Texas won her freedom.
** HMCC Austin at the Alamo
