A History Worth Making

A few years ago, I talked to my 100-year-old, hearing-challenged father about his new hearing aids. He hates wearing them because, in his generation, hearing aids were often a sign of weakness. Plus, the hearing aids of those days were awkward and ugly. But those issues are just small potatoes compared to what he is most concerned with; he wants clarity.

My father is 100 years old, but his mind is sharp and agile. He identified something about his new hearing aids that caught my attention and turned it into an insight. He said, "The problem with these hearing aids is that I get amplification when I need clarity." 

He nailed it. Do you know what? That same concept is needed today in a ‘hearing aid sense’ in cultural, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual understanding. Most everything in our sight and sound-stimulated, short soundbite, agenda-driven world is up to its highest volume. We have loud amplification when we need clarification about today’s news and issues. In other words, they give quantity when you don’t have quality. Clarity is a rarity in today’s noisy, distortion-driven world.  

Imagine you were born in 1900. On your 14th birthday, World War One starts. That war ends on your 18th birthday. Twenty million people perish in that war. Later in the same year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday. At least 50 million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million. On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, and the World GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapsed, along with the world economy.

Don't try to catch your breath when you turn 39 years old. World War II starts. On your 41st birthday, the United States plunges into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 70-85 million people perish in that war. At 50, the Korean War commences, and five million people die. At the age of 55, the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years. Four million people perished in that conflict. On your 62nd birthday, you live through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, should have ended. Great leaders prevented that from happening. When you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. 

Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you survive all of that? Remember when you were a kid in 1985 or later and didn’t think your 85-year-old grandparents understood how hard school was? Or how condescending the bully in your class was. Or how you didn't get what you wanted on your tenth birthday. Yet, they survived through every calamity listed above. Your issues may seem huge, but they are minor compared to someone born in 1900. We need their life experience and perseverance to overcome some of the challenges we struggle with today.

Young people, if you think you know or see more than previous generations, it's because you are sitting on their shoulders. The generations that came before you could have been better. They weren't saints. They operated at the level of their culture and perspective at that time. Let me repeat it. The only reason that you may see more than they did is that you are sitting on their shoulders. 

You have the advantage of their perspective, although that perspective needs some correction in essential areas that you might correct. Refrain from disrespecting the foundation on which you are currently living. The epitome of arrogance is to judge and condemn previous generations by today's standards. Arrogance isn’t only thinking too much of yourself but also thinking too little of others. 

You can't learn from others' mistakes if you eliminate history. If you eradicate past generations' contributions (both positive and negative), you lower yourself. You lose the advantage of their perspective and history lessons. You will repeat the same mistakes they made but with different victims if you don’t learn from the past. Let's keep things in perspective. Let's be smart and help each other out. Here's a lesson for the new generation as you start your journey: If you see a turtle on a fence, it's for sure he had help to get there.

Each generation builds on the previous generation’s foundation. Sitting on top of someone's shoulder gives a clearer perspective, a better view, and clarity in taking appropriate action. Don't eliminate history. Learn from history. Don't reject history or try to make it disappear just because it offends your current sensibilities. Allow history to teach you to chew up the meat (strengths) and spit out the previous generations' bones (weaknesses). Take the best and upgrade the rest so that everyone is blessed. That’s called wisdom.

Learn from the past how to live in the present and upgrade your future. The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post: a reference, not a residence. The past is a teacher, teaching us our victories and our mistakes. If it's wrong, like real and tangible injustice, we fix it with real-life solutions. We are not the problem. We are the solution. We make history, but we make a history worth making. That takes clarity, not amplification.

Here's our takeaway: Jesus said the kingdom of God consists of both old and new things. Learn from others' mistakes. The second mouse gets the cheese. There is plenty of cheese if you are the second mouse.