Lens of History

 I’ve never been a history buff. During my years of schooling, history classes were just lists of dates and places, none of which I internalized or remembered beyond the day of tests. I didn’t realize that there were actual people living the historical events—and that those people had real thoughts, feelings, and emotions—that they experienced things that cannot be captured on the page.

 

Fast forward many years and add layers of maturity into my life, and I now understand that making historical connections is actually interesting…especially when I’m able to connect past to present.

 

Last week, I found myself reading a lot about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks because my students were asking questions about them. In my reading, I realized that both King and Parks lived through The Great Depression and World War II. In regard to the former, I ended up reading about how The Great Depression Affected Black America. In regard to the latter, I ended up realizing that while King and Parks were growing up in segregated America, the Jews were living through the Holocaust. That was a humbling thought.

 

I also found myself reading about Tina Turner because I went to see “Tina: The Musical” on Wednesday night. Tina endured physical abuse by the hands of her Minister Father and her Musician Husband, emotional and mental abuse from the mouth of her mother, and unfair treatment by the music industry because she was black. Through hard work, perseverance, and an unbreakable spirit, she made her way into history as one of the greatest musicians of her time. She is now married to a non-abusive man who adores her and living in Switzerland as a practicing Buddhist.

 

And then yesterday, during church, I found myself wanting to study maps of the Middle East. The story of the wisemen intrigued me, and I realized that I no idea how close Jerusalem was to Bethlehem was to Nazareth was to Egypt was to Iran, from where scholars think the wisemen may have come. Did I study these things in Divinity School? Yes. But did they stick? Unfortunately, no.

 

The story of the wisemen also made me wonder: What if the wisemen hadn’t stopped by Jerusalem and somehow convinced Herod to see them? Clearly, they were important persons to be able to make audience with the King, and clearly there was something was special about them and their words for Herod to freak out like he did, but clearly they didn’t need Herod to get them to where Jesus was living because, according to scripture, they followed the star to the HOUSE where Jesus was staying. Had the wisemen NOT gone to Herod, would hundreds—thousands?—of baby boys’ lives have been spared? Could they have made a naïve mistake? Did they find out about the killings and feel bad for their part? Could prophecy have been fulfilled some other way?

 

This is what I do with history now. I wonder about it—and feel curious—and understand that history is made of human stories with human people with human emotions and human joys and triumphs and heartaches and sorrows. I ask questions and seek answers and try to connect those answers to what I already know so that the answers have inspirational meaning rather than statistical value. There is so much we can learn from history—so many joys—so many sorrows—so many patterns—we just have to have eyes and hearts to see…

 

Dear God: Thank you for being the God of past, present, and future…and thank you for challenging and inspiring us through the lens of history. Help us to learn from you and your people and help us to see the connections you would have us see between then and now. Help us learn from past mistakes and never to repeat them again. Likewise, help us learn from past triumphs and to move forward in grace, freedom, and truth. Amen.