Picture from http://www.nationalparks.org
We are all standing on the shoulders of the great ancestry that came before us. We all yearn to know where we come from and who’s blood runs through our veins. We truly cannot influence the future until we can handle the past. Ancestry.com has become such a popular website in helping us figure out our pasts. But, in this new generation of selfies, facebook, twitter, instagram, and all the other self focused pursuits we fill our days with now, we have lost our connection to the men and women who paved the way for us. In retrospect, we have lost ourselves to follow trends and fads. How many of you can honestly say you know your true history? Can we know where we are headed without knowing where we are from?
“The more you know your history, the more liberated you are.” Maya Angelou
How do we have a serious discussion about our history? Believe it or not, we all are intertwined in some way. We all have an ancestry of great struggle and great victory. We all hail from Kings and Queens. But, as I watch my children grow up and see the world through innocent lenses, I wonder how to broach a subject that is still hard for me to swallow.
“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4
We used to have the African American Encyclopedia in our house when I was a child. I used to love looking at the pictures of all the African Americans who lived so long ago. I did not realize what I was looking at during those times, but I knew those books were very important. I wish I would have taken them more seriously and retained the information they provided to better help me in having these discussions with my boys. My boys who will soon be young black men, husbands and fathers. Our children must hear the truth from us before the world can fill their heads with information that is not always correct. But, again as adults we must be prepared to answer the hard questions and tell the whole story. I ask, how much do you know about your history?
Whether you are black, white, native american, hispanic or asian, you must know who your ancestors were. God has blessed all of us with such a rich bloodline to embrace and continue to thrive on. We all are in charge of our own journey, but we must give reverence and attention to those pioneers who helped change the world.
I have much research to do myself in discovering who’s shoulders I am standing on today. I know my family comes in all shades, sizes, shapes and all of it is beautiful. It is my duty to know my people and know their stories.
Whether struggle or victory, its all mine. It helps me to understand why I am the way I am and as I discover my history I pray that these stories will be told for many generations to come. God did not create us to be silent observers of life. He created us to continue His legacy He began so long ago, when He gave destiny to David, power to Abraham and forgiveness through Jesus. We all come from that.
“Things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.” Psalms 78:3-4
We are making history as we speak. Everything we do is being recorded in some way, whether in our childrens minds, on a sheet of paper, or imprinted on the walls and doors of our homes; we are a part of history. And just like you would like to be remembered long after you are gone, the generations before us deserve to be honored too.
I challenge you this week to find at least one interesting fact from your own family history. If you can please post it on my guestbook page so I can learn something new about you. And if you are family then it would be great to know a little more about myself as well. Let our history be a continued legacy to be recounted back generations to come. I look forward to your responses and I know that you got this!
Sincerely,
Terryn
MODERN FAITHERELLA 