The Mix of History — and People
Yesterday our Bible class teacher asked us to share childhood memories of playing outside. Class members spoke of roaming the town or the countryside as far and wide as they wanted. Ladies told of building playhouses. One said that they built towns. Another said they buried treasure. I remember doing that, too. Class member Miss Catherine said that class member Nancy was “the creekbed boss.” I wish I could look back in time and see what that meant!
Our teacher said that she loved to play in the creek. When she drives by a creek today, she wants to stop and wade. She told about taking her grandchildren to a creek one time. They found a minnow and made a little dam for it to swim in. Her granddaughter named the minnow Jewelry. When playtime was over, her grandson cried because they couldn’t take Jewelry with them.
As I thought back to my own childhood, I realized that my parents rarely drove me anywhere, except for birthday parties or to the homes of friends who lived a little distance away. I, too, roamed the town far and wide. I walked to school, to the park, to the dime store, to Brownie meetings, to the drug store, and to the Saturday night movie.
A few class members lamented times today. One said, “Kids don’t know how to play.” A couple of ladies cupped their hands around imaginary phones and moved their thumbs up and down, indicating that children only play with electronics. Sometimes that seems all too true, but I am grateful for the parents who make sure that doesn’t happen in their families.
I like to hear about and remember decades before now. That history teaches many lessons. It teaches that there are other ways to spend time, other ways to learn, other ways to interact with people and with our world, other ways to spend a life. Some of those ways are good and some are bad. Hearing the stories helps us to see that.
Yesterday we smiled as we remembered freedom and safety and time in God’s creation. We frowned as we remembered the prejudice we saw and heard when we were children.
On Tuesday evening, Mary Evelyn, her daughter who is seven, and I met with a friend and her three daughters. We had asked her to give us feedback about our latest curriculum, Our Star-Spangled Story, as we gear up to write another one. During the evening, Mary Evelyn asked each of the girls to tell her favorite thing about history.
- One of our friend’s daughters said that she likes to learn about everyday people doing extraordinary things.
- Another likes to learn history that involves animals.
- Her youngest daughter said that she likes to learn about “when people washed their clothes on those scrape-y things.” I loved how she described that. She meant pioneer times when people washed their clothes on washboards.
- Our granddaughter said that she likes it all.
Though I have known this family for several years, I didn’t realize what a history buff the mama is until last night. It’s always pleasant to find people who agree with you, so I loved hearing her talk about the reality that, except for Jesus, all people in history and in the present are a mixture of good deeds and bad deeds. If all news reporters would accept that reality, by the way, we’d hear very different stories on the news.
Your children are blessed to have you with them as they learn history. You can help your children see what they should avoid and what they should emulate. You can help them to look at the people and events of the past in light of the realities of God’s teaching. You can help them see the reality of everyone’s need for Jesus Christ.
But now apart from the Law
the righteousness of God has been manifested,
being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
even the righteousness of God
through faith in Jesus Christ
for all those who believe;
for there is no distinction;
for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God,
being justified as a gift by His grace
through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
Romans 3:21-24