History Matters
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- David McCullough is one of the most popular historians and writers of the past 50 years. Although he passed away in 2022 at the age of 89, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author made past presidents like John Adams and Missouri’s own Harry Truman, as well as important figures like the Wright Brothers, come to life through his best-selling books.
This fall, a collection of essays honoring McCullough will be published. The title summarizes his life and contributions: “History Matters.”
This is not only a catchy title, but it also encapsulates what McCullough called the driving force behind his decades of writing about people and events. History is important for all of us. It tells stories of the good and the bad, the inspiring and the cruel, the joyous and the frustrating.
When I was a young Christian, what drew me most to the Bible was that even though not all of the Bible’s parts are strict historical documents, it contains all aspects of human experience, including things that proved to be quite embarrassing.
For instance, heroes like David, who became Israel’s greatest king, are shown to have definite weaknesses. In his case, it was his temper and lust. In short, heroes of the faith were not painted as having no flaws. The nation God did most of his work through is also not portrayed as the perfect model.
Even the earliest versions of the Church in the New Testament were honestly portrayed as having prejudices, struggles and doubts. Keeping all of those parts in the story doesn’t make it worse, even if it does make aspects uncomfortable at times. Instead, it brings an honesty, transparency and realism that is refreshing.
In the same way, honesty about a nation’s history does not need to portray a nation as perfect. Honestly, addressing the flaws, mistakes and downright bad choices of a nation makes the good parts more inspiring and believable. So when we bring individuals or groups back to the conversations about history, as we seek to do during Black History Month (February) or Women’s History Month (March), we are not damaging history. Instead, we are correcting it by honestly including those who, at times, have been left out.
When we honestly address sad times in our nation like slavery, systemic racism or sexism, we are not ruining history for our children. Instead, we are giving them and ourselves an honest assessment of history the way it was — the good and the bad of it. By doing this, hopefully, we can learn from and correct the bad while celebrating and multiplying the good. History really does matter.
