WHAT HISTORY TEACHES US ABOUT PEACE AND JOY (IF ANYTHING)
Napoleon (no that’s not the three flavored ice cream—Neapolitan) was reported to have said, “history is the set of lies we have. Agreed upon.” So did he really say that or did we just agree upon that? Who knows besides the grand little emperor himself? Anyway, I have been thinking a lot about “istory” and its role in seeking peace and joy. surely experiences we have had shape if not dictate the meaning of experiences we have today and the stories we. Will tell about. Them. On the other hand, isn’t every day a candidate for something. That has never happened before.
For example, in1776, on this date (September 9th) The Name of the United Colonies was swapped out for a name you may have heard before—The United States ofAmericaDoes that mean when independence was declared it wasn’t even the US? That’s exactly what it means... So if the change hadn’t been made a lot of sports fans would be cheering UC instead of U-S-A!
Today wen we think of the founding fathers we are often conjuring up a vision of a bunch of elder statesmen in grand debate. Lest you think you are not old enough to change the world, I invite you to consider that Thomas Jefferson the lead author of the declaration was all of 33 years old. WEhile declaring all men were created equal he didn’t say out loud “etc..ept for the ones I “own” or the ones I’m sleeping with etc
180 Years after that television history would be made when the Ed Sullivan show featured a 21 year old kid from Mississippi. Yep on CBS Sunday night Elvis performed for a nationwide audience. Now here are some things most people don’t remember about that. Ed wasn’t. Even on hand for his really big “shoe” that night and the King wasn’t in the famous. New York studio where the show was generally recorded. Elvis did. His songs(and I use that phrase loosely) from a set in L.A. where he was shooting a movie. What did the Elvis craze teach us? Did it teach us that it is okay to use the talents of others for our own fame and glory? Did it teach us that. The color barrier could be broken if someone had the courage to showcase the ethnic music of another race? What will history ultimately say now that “Elvis has left the building?”
It seems we (as in I) reframe history quite a bit depending upon what’s currently going on. In a couple days it will be the anniversary of 911. Did the colonies becoming the United States have more of an impact on us today than the terrorist attack. How many people can tell you more about Elvis thanUS foreign policy priorities for the year 2019?
The question that floats through my mind is “how often do I morph my history to support my current.stream of thoughts and actions and why do I choose to do it? In the end I think I am starting to accept the possibility that there is no real past extending beyond what it currently means in the narrative of today.
Then if that is a reasonable or even semi-reasonable interpretation what exactly is this. Thing called the future? Isn’t today tomorrow’s past?
Maybe the best that can be hoped for is the notion that right now. Is the time we have. We will recast our past in light of right now,so maybe we can know the past and understand it as something we want to continue, or change. Perhaps we can find peace and joy in the notion that there will be time to redefine our acts later on. Therefore maybe there is some practical value in the “judge not, lest you be judged” passages.
Well Marty that’s enough about the space time continuum for today... that’s enough to get us started thinking about today and this blog will wind up with a post about the present and then “the future” tomorrow—-because isn’t the future. Always tomorrow? More Soon.Doc—this is heavy
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