La Noche Triste

"La Noche Triste," murmured Harrison as his sister Cara entered the living room. "I gotta remember that--it might be on our test tomorrow.""What does it mean?" asked Cara."It's Spanish for 'The Night of Sorrows.' You'll learn about it next year," Harrison said as he closed his social studies book."Why is it called that?" Cara wanted to know."Well, it's something that happened more than four hundred years ago," said Harrison. "The Aztecs--one of the native people groups in Mexico--had a great city on an island. A Spanish leader by the name of Cortés was able to take his army into the city because the Aztec ruler thought the Spanish leader was a god. "But the Spanish were hungry for money and power, which made the Aztecs distrustful of them," Harrison continued. "After hearing rumors that the Aztecs might try to kill them, the Spanish attacked and killed a number of Aztec people at a festival. Then Cortés and his men knew they had to leave. But before they did, they loaded up all the gold they could carry. As they tried to escape, the Aztecs attacked them. Many Spanish soldiers tried to swim to the mainland, but they drowned because the weight of the gold pulled them down. It was called 'The Night of Sorrows' because more than half of the Spanish army died that night.""Wow! Why didn't they get rid of the gold when they realized it was weighing them down?" asked Cara.Harrison shrugged. "I don't know. I guess they were greedy and wanted to keep it.""It sounds like they had a lot in common with us today," said Dad, who had been listening. "Many of us try to get as much earthly treasure as we possibly can--even when it means other people get hurt. We seem to think money and the power that comes with it is more important than anything else, but we're never satisfied.""And there are lots of things money can't buy," said Cara. "The sermon in church last week was about that. Peace, joy, contentment, and especially the forgiveness of sins and living with God forever--we can only have those things by trusting in Jesus."Dad nodded. "Jesus is the only treasure that brings eternal life--and He gives it to us for free." –Jean A. Burns