14 to 1

This semester I am taking 2 courses for my Master of Divinity program. Each of these courses is online and actually entails more work, I find, than sitting in a classroom and taking a course the normal way. None the less, I was doing my reading and listening/reading the lecture notes for one my courses and I came across this stat.

14 to 1

The history of humanity who has lived on this earth and died outnumbers those alive 14 to 1. For every person alive today there are 14 others buried.

Why does this matter?

As I was reading and studying last night my professor concluded we ought to spend some more time listening to those who have gone before than we currently do; they have things to say about our world, life, religion, and society we need to hear. Following up with yesterday's post, I would conclude, he is right.

Yesterday I made the case for myself and everyone else, the world needs us to be uniquely and creatively us, not someone else. We have something to offer the world no one else has seen or heard before and the same goes for all those who have ever lived. Each of those people had/has something to offer the world no one else can. From writings, to lifestyle we can learn a lot from these people.

I used to think history was pointless. For me it was a lot of memorization of dates and things, which meant little to nothing about how I lived my life. I seriously didn't even much time for the past 100 years or so and was so arrogant to believe what we have now is all that matters. What I soberingly came to understand, thankfully, was all we have today, is because someone has gone before.

I remember going to Rome in 2011 with my wife and walking down the street, turning the corner, and seeing the Colosseum. We ventured a little further and visited the Roman Forum. Now, these are tourist sites for a ton of people and hold nothing more than 'cool ideas' or 'feelings' when people visit, but these two places represent much more than ideas and feelings. These two places represent the entertainment of the day and the mecca of arts and culture. As I looked into the history of these two places things started to become alive - I was walking the same steps and others 2000, 3000 years ago. Now this is cool.

Really, since this moment, everywhere my wife and I travel places aren't mere 'cool places' to visit, but are incredible places to be discovered and dig into. There are things to be discovered along the way about the people who have gone before us. Things as simple as growing up, maturing, getting a job, and having a family. All of these things are now alive as I actually want to study how it all was done and how it all happened.

The cool thing about the two courses I am taking is, I really already took them in my Undergraduate studies. I am not sure why my courses didn't transfer over to my current program, BUT I am thankful. I am thankful because nearly 10 years ago I learned about history, the history of Christianity to be exact, and I am a different person now. The readings I used to think were incredibly boring have now grown to be alive. I almost get a second chance at this and I am taking advantage of the opportunity.

God is "than, than which nothing greater can be conceived." - Anselm of Canterbury

"My heart heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee." - Augustine

These two quotes have resonated in my mind for a couple of years now. Each one beautiful. Each one written by people I never knew, but feel as if I know them a bit. These quotes were written within the history of the world. Quotes I probably wouldn't have thought twice about 10-12 years ago. Now they are incredible lines of adoration, praise, worship, struggle, and joy from both Anselm and Augustine.

I love history. I can't believe I am writing those words down, but I do, I love it. I love looking to the past, learning and honouring what has gone before and continue to write the book of history as I move forward. People will remember me, you, all of us. What will they remember us by?