Having the opportunity to travel to 4 different countries over a 2 week period is a tiring, but beautiful experience. There is so much to learn about other cultures and the people of these amazing places.
One of my favorite things is to visit museums. I am amazed by the details of historical paintings. Some are so good, they look like photographs. Probably because before photography, this was the way to memorialize people and scenes. Imagine a time when you couldn’t just snap a picture on your phone!
What strikes me though is how history is revised through the eyes of the artist. In many ways like the propaganda we receive through all forms of media (especially political ads). Some of the religious paintings seems to tell a much different story than I have read in my Bible. As I reflect on this, in many ways, nothing has changed. People often believe what they are told. Pieces of the story come forward while other pieces are left behind.
Yesterday, my husband went to a museum in Liverpool, England. He was surprised and amazed that the museum showed the raw truth about slavery in their country. In his words, “they owned up to it, bad things and all”.
As a society, we can’t move forward if we tell ourselves lies and revise the history that happened before us. Some of the situations we face are bigger than us. Bigger than one country. Whether it is economics, climate, or politics, we are all entangled whether we admit it or not.
It is time to see each other for who we are, work together on solutions, and learn history so we do t repeat it.
Swimming Upstream 