Leaning

This comic strip captured a current drifting of thought--do we study and teach history because it gives us the illusion of control? In other words, do we believe that understanding the decisions and forces that directed humanity to its current state in 2013 will allow us to influence the future? Yes, I do recall being taught the phrase: "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Still, I'm not buying it. This motivation for interpreting history seems almost farcical. It is absurd to suppose that humans are 1.) remotely capable of accurately assessing cause and effect on a global or even societal scale and 2.) wise and unselfish enough to use any insights to "fix" our patterns of brutality and prejudice and wastefulness. 

Last week a new acquaintance prayed a familiar verse* over me: "And God, let Katie not lean on her own understanding as she makes decisions, knowing that You direct our paths." Despite memorizing this verse at age seven, there are very few days when I do not lean heavily on my own understanding. I am terrible with any activity requiring physical agility, hand-eye coordination, or mechanical aptitude. Basically, I rely on my own understanding all day long because intuiting and processing information (primarily people-oriented information) is where I am comfortable. It seems like an affront to say that I am supposed to give up the area in which I feel most capable and useful.

The good news for me and for all of us is that this verse is not instructing us to disregard our own mental faculties or gut instincts. Rather, our own understanding is not to be our main support. It is a faulty structure. As we study history, try to understand what makes our loved ones tick, read about current events, decipher training manuals, and so on and so forth, we cannot rely on our understanding. It will fail us every time.

History is incredibly fascinating to me on both an individual and societal level. Humans have the same essential story-line with incredibly diverse circumstances. Every person is born from the physical union of one man and woman, has a sex, has physical needs to eat and sleep and shelter, has emotional needs to learn and connect, interacts with other beings, and finally dies. Many personality psychologists postulate that there are only a few basic personality types that form differently based on our wildly diverse environments. Melding those individual stories into explanations of culture and society is even more complex and elusive. Still, learning about history is indeed valuable. It is useful not because it will help us control the future, but because it confirms the timeless divine instructions for human interaction. Reading about genocides and oppression and tracing their history of prejudice and selfishness may help convince us of man's incredible capacity for evil, but such a perverse lineage is not necessary for instruction. Our Father has already told us how to behave and what to prioritize. We must trust God when He says to care for the poor, welcome the alien in the land, and protect widows and orphans. We must trust Him when He says not to deprive a worker of his rights, to honor the lowly, to universally "love your neighbor as you love yourself." 

History is a corruptible testimony; our understanding is faulty; but God's instructions remain true and trustworthy.

*"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart 

and lean not on your own understanding. 

In all your ways, acknowledge Him, 

and He will direct your paths." 

Proverbs 3:5-6.