OUR glimpse into HISTORY

As I have grown older, I have come to appreciate the subject of history more and more. When I was younger, I never understood why I had to learn about certain individual’s lives and how they had a significant impact on some of history’s greatest events. To me, history was boring – all we have is the here and now. Why do we have to learn about past events when they have no correlation to my life in the present?  Well, as all of my old history teachers used to say, historical events that have happened in the past prevent us from repeating them in the present. Aka the past shapes the future.

I was never interested in the subject of history until college, where I opened myself up to a vast wealth of information. One professor in particular (we will call him Professor D.) changed my perspective on this boring field of study. Professor D. was an energetic man who asked lots of questions to create thoughtful discussions in his classroom. The course I took with Professor D was World History before the 1500s.

What made this class so interesting was the way Professor D. taught the course. He didn’t put up Power Point slides boring his students with information about certain dates and places of origin like other professors I’ve had done. Instead, he required our class to read and analyze “artifacts” as he called them, or written documents, paintings, and sculptures that came from a particular time period.

I remember reading about the Qin Dynasty through the eyes of  the leader of the Dynasty. I read excerpts from the Bible through the eyes of Jesus’ disciples, John and Matthew. I also analyzed pictures of cave drawings while learning about the first nomadic people.

I did a lot of reading and a lot of thinking in that class.

What enticed me the most about reading and analyzing all of these various artifacts were these artifacts were real people’s stories during real times that they decided to record. I was reading about people’s beliefs, morals, and values that lead them to live out their lives in their own ways. The neat part is that these beliefs, morals, values, rules of a nation, or stories that these particular people recorded have turned into important documentations that has revealed our world’s past. The authors to these artifacts probably had no clue that their lives would be that significant. These individuals just documented what they knew and saw around them.

Isn’t it crazy to think right now as you and I live out our lives we are creating history? We do not even notice that the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the things we believe in will one day be documented in history books for future generations to read about. I think that is pretty awesome and that is why I have come to appreciate history. These people who lived and documented their lives , whether in paintings, writings, drawings, sculptures, you name it, shared pieces of their lives with the world during that particular moment in time.

It is pretty amazing when you really grasp the idea that you are a small piece that contributes to a whole generation in history.

But the question is what are you going to do with it? How are you going to document your life? What legacy are you going to leave behind?

In a sense we all are here for a “glimpse in time.” All of us are here on this earth for a select amount of time for some reason and some purpose that is somewhat unknown. We come into this world, live out our day-to-day lives, try to figure out who, and what we want to be, while also touching those around us. We attempt to create something of ourselves, whether that is creating something out of our work environments, our passions, or finding someone to join this journey of life with and creating a family. Whichever ways each of us chooses to live our lives out we end up creating a world for ourselves.  We surround ourselves with the people and things we want most, causing others to have an effect on us, and us to have an effect on them. Believe it or not, we each have something to add to this big ole’ world of ours.

I, like many others who are reading this blog post want to touch the world. I want to be able to use my abilities and the gifts God granted me with to do the best I possibly can. I feel as if one of those areas is writing and why not take a shot in the dark and put my thoughts out into the world. Heck after all it could touch someone who is reading it.

Our glimpse in time, this blog, is my glimpse into history. These are my stories, ideas, values and thoughts that will be documented in one place for the world to see. Some people document their life through songs and musical instruments, while others through a canvas and paint brush. Unfortunately, I wasn’t gifted with a beautiful singing voice or a steady stroke of a hand on a canvas. What I was gifted in was the ability to tell enticing stories; stories about my life and the lives closest to me.

As you embark on this journey with me at Our Glimpse in Time my hope is you read my stories and are impacted to believe you too have stories to tell and a life to live.

So with that, join me on MY glimpse in time to make OUR time on this Earth a better place.

Hope you come back and join me for this journey.

God Bless,

L.Blum