History & St Patrick’s Day
Since it was St Patrick’s Day yesterday, it got me thinking about Irish history. Actually, it got me thinking about history in general, but more on that later. What I was really pondering was the use of language. Everyone hears about the Irish potato “famine,” but that word is incredibly deceptive. Deceptive on purpose. It would look pretty bad to talk about the “genocide” or “forced starvation,” but both of those terms are far more accurate. For those who don’t know, The potatoes all over Europe were blighted, but only Ireland had a “famine.” This was because the Irish people were not allowed to eat the abundant harvest of other crops that were being forcibly exported out of the country while people were starving.
Using language like “famine” sanitizes the history. People think famines are not anyone’s fault. They happen because of nature. But when you realize that an entire government was behind it – that the British government considered the deaths of more than a million and a half Irish to be “not enough to do much good,” you realize that history can be very ugly.
History & Fiction
There’s a lot of talk about history these days and how it makes people feel. The reason that the saying, “If you don’t learn from history, you’re doomed to repeat it,” is so often repeated is because history can be exceedingly ugly. That’s History. You surely wouldn’t be worried about repeating something fantastically wonderful now, would you?
I used to tell my students that I am a single person. And if I look back at my life honestly, there are many decisions, actions, words I’ve spoken, and things I didn’t do – that I regret. The older I get – the more mistakes I’ve made. I think we’d all decline the offer of having our family sit and watch a playback of every moment of our life – even for a million dollars.
So if I, as a lone person, have done things that make me ashamed or embarrassed about my history – it’s an absolute guarantee that an entire country filled with millions of people, run by a government of tens of thousands, would have some things to be ashamed of. If your history always makes you proud – it’s not history – it’s fiction.
Facing The Truth
Truth is factual, even if we choose to ignore it. The Bible says that the truth will set us free. Why is that? Well, if you’ve ever tried to conceal something, you know what a burden it is when you’re worried you’ll be found out. When you get up on the witness stand, you are asked to tell the truth, the whole truth because lies of omission are still lies. Just because you don’t admit that it happened – doesn’t mean that it didn’t.
When you face the truth, you can move on. You can grow. You can heal. Teaching kids about lies of omission is always fun – they know exactly what you’re talking about. You know when your mom asks you where you’ve been and you say, “I was at Tom’s” because you were there for five minutes before you came home. But, you leave out the fact that you were over at Joe’s for the first three hours because you know you’re not allowed to be there. The kids giggle. They know and they’ll admit it.
God Knows Our Heart
So whether we choose to confront our history or hide it, God knows our heart. He has seen everythign we’ve ever done, knows everythign we’ve ever thought, has heard everything we’ve ever said. The truth is already known – we need only confront it to grow and move on. So when I pray, I don’t need to worry that God doesn’t get where I’m coming from. I don’t need to wrry that He doesn’t understand my desires or my motives. The more honest I am with myslef, the more honest I can be with Him. The more more I confront my own history – the easier it will be to make my heart more like His.