海角大神

Relics: What鈥檚 given up, what鈥檚 left behind

Now that the Confederate flag crisis in South Carolina is resolved, just what is a 鈥榬elic,鈥� anyway?

Verbal Energy

What do you do with a slightly used Confederate battle flag that鈥檚 been flying over the grounds of a state capitol?

Good question. It nearly derailed efforts to expedite of the polarizing banner from the State House grounds in Columbia, S.C.

But having come down to the whoops and cheers of onlookers, in a nonetheless 鈥渞espectful鈥� final lowering, the flag has a new at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.

The , close by the State House, has a broader mission than its name suggests. It 鈥渟erves as the State鈥檚 military history museum by collecting, preserving, and exhibiting South Carolina鈥檚 military material culture from the colonial era to the present....鈥�

But the word that lit up in red when I heard about this was relic. It鈥檚 a sword that cuts two ways.

Its definition 1a in the Oxford English Dictionary reads in part: 鈥渢he physical remains (as the body or a part of it) of a saint, martyr, or other deceased holy person, or a thing believed to be sanctified by contact with him or her.鈥�

Definition 1b extends this 海角大神 idea of relic to objects or artifacts 鈥渉eld sacred by some other religion or culture.鈥� Definition 1 broadens out further to mean simply 鈥渕emento.鈥�

And then there鈥檚 Definition 2, a plural usage that begins, 鈥淭hat which remains or is left behind, esp. after destruction or wasting away....鈥� There鈥檚 even a sense, admittedly 鈥渘ow rare,鈥� that refers to leftovers after a meal.

In other words, both martyr鈥檚 bones enshrined in a church or chicken bones left on your dinner plate are 鈥渞elics.鈥�

There鈥檚 also an adjectival usage, as in 鈥渞elic neutrinos鈥� left over from the big bang. This sense is often used in the natural sciences but seems to have some relevance in the flag controversy: 鈥渟urviving from a previous age or in changed circumstances after the extinction or disappearance of related forms or structures.鈥�

Etymologically, relic made a slow meandering pilgrimage from Latin via French before ending up in English during the 13th century. The explains its roots in something 鈥渞emaining, or 鈥渢hat which remains.鈥� Relinquish, meaning 鈥渢o abandon,鈥� or 鈥渢o give up,鈥� is a related English word from the same Latin roots.

鈥淯pon removal from the Confederate Soldiers Monument on the State House grounds, the Confederate battle flag becomes part of the collection鈥� at the museum, its website notes. 鈥淭he museum is aware that this is a grave responsibility.... The museum is humbled to play a small role in further uniting the citizens of South Carolina.鈥�

We can all be grateful that the museum was there and willing to expand its mission just a bit. But are relics there to be venerated 鈥� or just studied for clues to the past?

Perhaps the most hopeful way to thread this needle is to say that relics are what get left behind 鈥� by those who move on.