Has it occurred to you that our forebears did not live in the past? Pulitzer-Prize winning historian David McCullough has pointed out that the great men and women of history “lived in the present just as we do. The difference was it was their present, not ours. And just as we don’t know how things are going to turn out for us, they didn’t either.” This is part of what makes their remarkable achievements so inspiring.
McCullough continued: “We have to know who we were if we’re to know who we are and where we’re headed. This is essential. We have to value what our forebears—[including] our own parents and grandparents—did for us, or . . . it can slip away.”1
We have each inherited treasures from the past: treasures of experience, of knowledge, of courageous acts, and of freedom. More than ever before, history is readily available, but if we don’t explore it, it is worthless to us—much like buried treasure that remains buried.
History becomes valuable as it is studied and shared. A good place to start is a cemetery. Visit one and look at the gravestones for young and old from all walks of life. Read the monuments to soldiers and fallen heroes; think about what we have today because of their sacrifice. Take note of dates and begin piecing together life stories. Every monument is a piece of history. We can casually glance and move on, or we can pause to reflect, remember, and learn.
As our hearts turn to our forebears—both in and outside our family tree—we grow ever more grateful for them and their contributions. We see how their lives shaped ours, and we become more determined to make the most of our portion of the present as they did so honorably with theirs.
Program #4004
1 “Knowing History and Knowing Who We Are,” www.hillsdale.edu/imprimis/2005/April. Quoted by permission from Imprimis, the national speech digest of Hillsdale College, www.hillsdale.edu.