Tag: history

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Encouragement History

Making the Best of Today and Archiving for the Future

white painted papers
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I love it when an article has a positive spin on some of the challenges we’ve all faced in 2020. 

Back in April, this story commented on what one organization is doing during the crisis. It states that The Indiana Historical Society is asking Hoosiers to contribute to telling the story of COVID-19.

This is important because right now, we are all just trying to endure during this ordeal. One day, this will be behind us, and it will be a distant memory, much like The 1918, Spanish Flu Pandemic is for us today. Nobody thought much about it until we had this new pandemic to deal with.

Collectively, our memory can be short, especially when it comes to unpleasant events. Processing what we are going through can help us to make the best of today and remind us in the future how we got through this. And yes, we will get through this! Keep the faith and have the wherewithal to notice and archive what is going on today. If you live in Indiana, you may want to contribute to the archive at the Indiana Historical Society.

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children's ministry children's ministry cartoons Christianity Christianity Religion Cartoons

The Mysterious Span of Time

Cartoon of a boy and a grumpy, old man. The man says, "Yes, I know Jesus. No, I wasn't there when he began his ministry."
Previously Published in "Kidzmatter Magazine."

It’s hard for kids to experience how long the span of time really is. To them, history is anything that happened before they were born. And it is true, isn’t it? It’s just that they have a hard time imagining an older person’s history wasn’t in the time of Bible stories or dinosaurs. To them, the Gettysburg Address and the fall of the Roman Empire all happened in that little span of time we call history.

I remember my Mom saying, “Just you wait! One minute you’re ten years old. The next minute you’re thirty-five.” Of course I didn’t believe her. Now I am older than she was at the time. Yes, you blink and time speeds by. But that doesn’t mean I lived during the time of Shakespeare. He wasn’t a cousin and we didn’t hang out together.

Time happens fast, and it drags on. I remember wondering if I would ever make it out of second grade. It must have been quite a boring year for me. I am happy to announce I made it through and then some. And so did my kids. Where did all the time go?

Time is an enigma. Embrace it and make the best use of it. Yes, you can tell them you lived at a time before smartphones. And you can patiently tell them cars and electricity was invented way before you were born.

Do you have any stories of kids having humorous issues with the span of time? Leave a comment and let us know?

Cartoon of a boy and a grumpy, old man. The man says, "Yes, I know Jesus. No, I wasn't there when he began his ministry."
Previously Published in “Kidzmatter Magazine.”
Categories
motivation

Were the Good Old Days That Good?

Each older generation thinks life was better in the “good old days.” Apparently, judging by this verse, they were thinking the same thing thousands of years ago.

Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Ecclesiastes 7:10 NIV

We tend to romanticize the past. We think of the good memories and tend to forget the bad. The seventies and eighties were no cakewalk!

We have much to be thankful for today. Remember the past fondly, live in the present and look forward to the future. Besides, in a couple of decades, we’ll look at today as the good old days.

Categories
History

Who Has Been Here Before?

Marker in Greenville, Ohio for Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa
As I was jogging this morning, I came across this marker. I have driven by it dozens of times before. It’s on the same road my wife’s parents have lived for over twenty years. Yet, this morning was the first time I read the marker. 

Continue reading “Who Has Been Here Before?”
Categories
books

Social Reading

Joe Wikert has a great post on the future of social reading. He states how many cynics believe reading will always be a solitary event, while he asserts great startups like ReadSocial and BookShout are making social reading attractive.

In many ways, this is a nod to the past when storytelling was a social event that would be held around a campfire. The storyteller would weave history and tall tales while the audience would give their approval. It was part history and part drama.

Until recently, literacy was only for the well-educated. If you wanted to hear God’s word, you went to church and heard the pastor or priest read from scripture. Even if you could read, Bibles were too large to be toted around. It was only when books became portable that reading could be a solitary event.

Technology is allowing us to become social readers again. We can be part of a larger community that shares our reading interests. It’s an interesting world we live in!