Coming Alive
In school, I hated studying history. It was always measured by wars and territory. Congress passed this act. America is the most wonderful country on the planet. Yawn!
Finally, in seminary, someone presented history in a way that made it come alive. The story of humanity is not about evolving designs in weapons, but in a flow of thought and human experience. Mistakes, ideas, cultures, and feelings. A single teacher surprised and motivated me. I learned more from studying history in seminary than I learned from any other discipline.
Now, I'm reading "A People's History of the United States," by Howard Zinn. Never thought I'd read a book by that title! I'm not into the narcisism of patriotism, and many accounts of American history have been whitewashed. But, once again, history is making sense for me. Zinn is filling in the blanks.
It's good to feel that again. And, to use history -- a topic I'd always hated -- to step away, on occasion, from my everyday tasks.
Coming Alive
In school, I hated studying history. It was always measured by wars and territory. Congress passed this act. America is the most wonderful country on the planet. Yawn!
Finally, in seminary, someone presented history in a way that made it come alive. The story of humanity is not about evolving designs in weapons, but in a flow of thought and human experience. Mistakes, ideas, cultures, and feelings. A single teacher surprised and motivated me. I learned more from studying history in seminary than I learned from any other discipline.
Now, I'm reading "A People's History of the United States," by Howard Zinn. Never thought I'd read a book by that title! I'm not into the narcisism of patriotism, and many accounts of American history have been whitewashed. But, once again, history is making sense for me. Zinn is filling in the blanks.
It's good to feel that again. And, to use history -- a topic I'd always hated -- to step away, on occasion, from my everyday tasks.