What is history?
History is inspiration.
History is the feats of great people, the thoughts of the
brilliant, and the triumphs of whole cultures, societies, and movements. We
look to history to show us the capabilities of the human spirit. From those who
overcame the seemingly impossible to those that did something wholly new to
mankind, we look for proofs of what can be achieved. From spreading empires
over large percentages of the globe to individual feats such as inventing
something never before seen, we look to history to show us what we are capable
of. Throughout time studying history has shown us that there are those whose
greatness is without question. History tells us that being human is
exceptional.
History is a lesson.
From the Crusades to the Hindenburg to Hitler, history shows
us the darkest reaches of humanity’s capacity for folly and evil. It shows us
the results of an insatiable ego and lust for power. It illuminates the basest
parts of the soul; greed, ignorance, divisiveness. It sets these things up to
the light for all to see and judge. It dissects the power structures and the
trends that lend themselves to the devolution of character. It questions our
very evolution past the most basic of human desires. It shows us the
conquerors, the oppressors, the liars and the thieves. It shows us the enslaved
and the persecuted. History tells us that being human is a struggle.
History is a mirror.
The present moment, once exhaled, becomes the past. That
past is our history. When looking upon ourselves in a mirror, we look into the
eyes of our present selves. And like the moment exhaled, in a mirror everything
in the image beyond our own selves is behind. As far as the eye can see,
stretching out as far as an endless horizon is this past. And so it is in this
mirror, in this present moment that history touches the present, so then we see
beyond into the face of who we have been, and of who we are. We become history.
As such, in the eyes of history we see our true selves. We see in history our
humanity and our link to all the experiences that are being human. We see our
greatness and our shame. We see the moments when we feel nothing can stop us to
the moments when we feel nothing. In essence, to look at history is to see our
own selves. History tells us what being human is.
The historian holds the mirror.
Once
we have looked into the eyes of history and realized that what we have seen is
ourselves, we as historians have met with our obligation to look for truth, for
if anyone should look into their own selves and not seek the truth of what is
there, then the life in which they live is fraudulent and thus worthless. So
the charge of the historian is then to find the truth of humanity as if
examining his or her own soul. If we truly look into history with this goal, what
we will find is ourselves, and knowing ourselves, we will be equipped to move
forward into the unknown future with confidence and purpose, with action and
compassion.
