Each action you and I take becomes a part of the thread of our individual histories. Those threads become interwoven with others to form family histories and those become interwoven into the fabric of our country’s history and ultimately the history of the human race.
We may never become famous, be interviewed on a talk show, or have our names in lights over a marque or blazed into headlines in newspapers or magazines. However, our threads are there and are a part of the historic fabric. We vote or choose not to. We interface with many people and often leave a lasting impression, whether good or bad, and our thread becomes a part of their thread of history. Thus in those ways we each matter.
The resulting huge mosaic of historic fabric shows all the bad and evil that the human race is capable of. It reveals the genocide, death camps, religious persecution, terrorism, slavery, tribal and global wars. But, it also shows the genius that the human mind is capable of. It shows the indomitable spirit of people and the compassion and generosity that we often practice.
When we see a part of this historic fabric that we don’t like, find offensive, or wish to blot out, we do some pretty stupid things. We tear down statues of past leaders. We make rude and unseemly gestures. We form marches and may even participate in riots. None of that changes history. History can be tweaked by those that write history books or teach history in schools, or even by politicians. None of that changes the history though, it simply will not be blotted out or covered up, or erased. It is what it is. The good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.
I am of the opinion that all the energy and money going into today’s demonstrations, marches, riots, and ranting would be better spent in trying to weave a future fabric that is better than the past, and future generations can look at that with pride in their forefathers, us. Perhaps it would be well for each person to reflect on what type of history we are contributing to and will we be proud to be able to say our thread was a part of that.
