Little Town on the Prairie

I just finished re-reading Little Town on the Prairie for the umpteenth time. As I mentioned once before in a previous post I basically keep this whole series on a constant rotation and I prefer the audiobooks narrated by Cherry Jones because her voice in soothing and, at this point, indistinguishable for me from the author's own. I have made notes previously on Facebook, as I am wont to do, but I can't find them now as it seems Facebook's many updates have finally gotten rid of notes. It's a shame we will never know if I said something far more brilliant than I am about to say here but for the sake of charity let's assume I did. 😉 

This particular book in the series is my absolute favorite in terms of inspiration. I am inspired by pretty much all of the series' books but this one has some of my favorite moments of all. For starters, Laura's sudden awakening at the Fourth of July Celebration to what true independence and mature adulthood mean. I wish I'd read this book before I ever had children, or even when they were little, so that I could incorporate a reading of the Declaration, and this chapter of the book even, into our own Fourth of July celebrations.

"The crowd was scattering away then, but Laura stood stock still. Suddenly she had a completely new thought. The Declaration and the Song came together in her mind, and she thought: God is America’s king. She thought: Americans won’t obey any king on earth. Americans are free. That means they have to obey their own consciences. No king bosses Pa; he has to boss himself. Why (she thought), when I am a little older, Pa and Ma will stop telling me what to do, and there isn’t anyone else to give me orders. I will have to make myself be good.

Her whole mind seemed to be lighted up by that thought. This is what it means to be free. It means, you have to be good. “Our Father’s God, author of Liberty—” The Laws of Nature and Nature’s God endow you with a right to life and liberty. Then you have to keep the laws of God, for God’s law is the only law that gives you a right to be free." 

People today don't believe this - most likely because it's not what they've ever been taught to believe. But this is the true and moral philosophy of being an American. You can read this very good essay about it here.  I also found this  commentary about it which touches on the memorization I am going to bring up later in this post. I'm just happy to know I am not the only one moved by the rapture the Declaration of Independence brings to Laura.

Another moment in the book that I love is Ma's poem in Laura's autograph book. This tidbit of advice comes after a situation in the book that most people today would 100% take Laura's side over. She is treated quite unfairly by her teacher all because of a lie that Nellie Olson told. Seems like Laura shouldn't be reproached at all right? But no, Ma and Pa see that this has happened because of a small moment when Laura allowed spite and pride to get the best of her. It's so small that by today's standards people would hardly call it spite or pride, and would even say Nellie deserved it, but the morals of the Ingalls family are impeccable. And what's more, they are consistent with the meekness of Christian living that most generations before ours were taught, that Christ himself taught, and it is a shame we have lost this. What a better world it would be if we all followed Ma's advice in this verse:

The final thing in Little Town on the Prairie that I am always inspired and moved by is Laura's recitation of American History. This is why Classical Education is so important to me. For centuries this was how all people were taught - through memorization and recitation. I feel that despite all the modern education theories, and all the money we spend on implementing those theories - and then revising them and implementing still different theories - there is just no better way to learn. Nothing beats muscle memory! Sounding out the words, memorizing the dates, putting it in order so you can pull out what you need later. I think just looking back at our parents and grandparents (and great-grandparents) we can see that. They knew more despite many of them being educated less! When Laura shares her historical recitation in the pages of this book I am in awe! She goes from Christopher Columbus all the way through to her own contemporary times! It's a feat that does not cease to impress me. And the true reverence she shows for the history of our country is something we could sorely use now in America.