History – Apprentice 2 Jesus

Idolatry isn’t always about competing gods

One site we visited in Israel was the place where Jeroboam set up the second calf for the northern tribes to worship in the far north of Israel. The footprint of the altar area is huge and the upper part is outlined by a metal frame.

The geography of Israel

One of the striking realities of Israel is its very limited geographical footprint. The stories become more real as I read them when I realize how the distances are not that great. Yes, they traveled by foot and that made the journeys longer in time, but to travel Israel today helps shorten up the spaceContinue reading “The geography of Israel”

Worth Your Time

I listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks. I came across a couple of older podcast series that had some history to them and I’ve enjoyed them.

Dealing with difficult history

I have found a podcast series called “Presidential.” It’s a few years old now, but it takes the listener from Washington to Biden, giving each president one episode. One episode for Abraham Lincoln. One episode for Rutherford B Hayes. Quite the challenge. I am posting a link to the one on Jefferson, but you canContinue reading “Dealing with difficult history”

January 6

We don’t need a committee to simply regurgitate what happened on Jan. 6, 2021. We need a committee that will preserve democracy on Jan. 6, 2025, and Jan. 6, 2029. We need a committee to locate the weaknesses in our democratic system and society and find ways to address them. The core problem here isContinue reading “January 6”

The difference between history and nostalgia

I am now reading through Clint Smith’s book, How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. Smith’s goal is to examine places in America and how they tell the story of slavery and racism in American history.

A chilling anniversary

80 years ago a 90 minute meeting produced the Holocaust. On Jan. 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking officials of the Nazi bureaucracy met in a villa on Lake Wannsee on the western edge of Berlin. Nibbles were served and washed down with cognac. There was only one point on the agenda: “The organizational, logistical and materialContinue reading “A chilling anniversary”

The Great Dissenter

A few years ago when I was teaching American History and in a section on the Supreme Court and “famous cases” I actually read the dissent of John Marshall Harlan in the case of “Plessy vs. Ferguson.” One man dissented in a time when the Supreme Court routinely upheld Jim Crow laws on a unanimousContinue reading “The Great Dissenter”

We just like being comfortable as white Christians

Tish Harrison Warren sets the framework of how Christians SHOULD handle history… and then exposes the horrible way in which we try to stay comfortable: We’re struggling now as a society with how to tell the truth about how white supremacy has shaped our history and institutions. Several states have recently passed laws against teachingContinue reading “We just like being comfortable as white Christians”

Learning from histories

I’ve been on a wonderful trip with our in-laws through Pennsylvania. Gettysburg. Lancaster. Philadelphia. As I’ve taken this trip, especially in Lancaster, PA, where James Buchanan and Thaddeus Stevens both resided, I’ve learned all over again it’s not about history. It is histories. We don’t get the the whole story a lot of the timeContinue reading “Learning from histories”