Friday, May 23, 2008

Take Me Back To The Sixties... to the past.

It is not I that belong to the past, but the past that belongs to me. America is the youngest of the nations, and inherits all that went before in history.
Mary Antin

I was born in 1966 and was a little young to remember some of the stuff in this movie but I do know about these events. Those who are around me most know that I'm a big fan of history which all started when I became a Christian. In my study of the New Testament I had come to realize in order to really understand anything I must first have a foundation for that understanding. If you think about it, a foundation is the groundwork to all knowledge such as, in order to understand how to spell you must first have the foundational information of the 47 rules to the English language, and it wouldn't hurt to have some Greek and Latin, etc. So, in order to fully understand the nature of God and the New Testament I needed to study the Old Testament and how God dealt with the Israelites because:

"For I am the LORD, I do not change;" Malachi 3:6 NKJV

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Hebrews 13:8-98 NKJV

As with studying the Old Testament to bring me to a clearer understanding of the nature of God and what I am to do in order to please Him, I also believe I need to know history starting from creation in order that I may learn from history and teach it to my children.

"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:6-9 NKJV

History is more important that I ever thought when I was younger. I believe I didn't like it because it was taught to me out of order - I couldn't see the pattern. I'm teaching my children history in chronological order starting with creation. We will learn geography as we move through history. We will learn about people and events as they occurred. I believe if I call myself a Christian, the history of the Israelites is my history because Christians are God's people too.

I believe when our children don't have a clear understanding of the past they will be more apt to make the same mistakes as before. I believe this based on the knowledge I have so far of history - for "there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9 NKJV

Thanks for "listening" and I hope you enjoy the movie.

P.S. I hope this made sense - my son, aslo known as HubbaDood, was dancing around me asking me 40-bazillion questions while I tried to type this.

2 comments:

Fred said...

I think a teacher's salary is still $5,174. I loved the facts on the slide show.

You wrote exactly what I tell my students when they enter my world history class.

Have a great holiday!

Anne said...

Fred - Thanks! I DID have a great holiday - hope you did as well.