By Linda Sherry
Worship Support Specialist
History is not simply the records of the past. It is how we perceive the past, and how we respond to it. It may be world history, American history, or it may be personal history we need to re-view. This month WUUC will offer many ways to connect with various types of history.
* * *
A thought-provoking challenge about our personal histories:
We all have it, that one memory from our younger years that brings us joy, or grounds our sense of identity. It’s one of the most precious pieces of personal history, so we hold on to it tightly.
So make time to ask yourself: Why have I held on to this memory for so long? Why has it been holding on to me? What is it trying to give me? Who helped me remember it? What piece of my current identity does it hold? What hunger does it represent? What wish is it wanting to rekindle?
* * *
Connecting personal history with cultural history:
When we are honest, we know that defensiveness, protectiveness and closed doors rule our relationship with history more than we’d like.
For instance, very few of us have pasts without pain woven through. And it’s just easier to shut out those traumatic times than confront them head on. We are all well taught the game of sweeping old wounds under the rug.
And of course, there’s the unprocessed horrors woven throughout our cultural history. They are the rule not the exception, but we work hard to close ourselves off from them with standard lines like, “At our best, this isn’t who we are!” or “As Americans, we’re better than this!” The truth is we’ve never consistently been “better than this.” Voluntary Amnesia, rather than a courageous and honest reckoning, describes the current character of America’s relationship to history.
All of which is to say that there is a deeper relationship between history and vulnerability than we often recognize. Without a heart willing to feel pain and endure grief, the fullness of our histories just can’t enter in. Talking about past mistakes requires developing the ability to vulnerably say I’m sorry.
An honest telling of racism requires the painful acceptance that some of us still benefit from the prejudices and oppression of our ancestors, and some of us still suffer the pain of being treated with prejudice and oppression today. Healing historical racism requires someone suffering the costs of reparations. And telling your full story requires navigating grief over choices you wish you would have made differently.
Excerpted and adapted from Soul Matters materials for November 2021.
Find the Soul Matters packet for November here.