A History Lesson

It all started last week when a co-worker offered me tickets to "Celebrate Family History." Sure, why not, it couldn't hurt, right? Now, I understand the importance of Family History, but that's about as much as I care about. I go to the temple weekly, so I'm involved in the work.

Many years ago, the National Genealogy Society was established for all the wonders of genealogy (and really, I'm just going to use these names interchangeably, because I don't know the difference). Every year they have a conference, and this year, it was in Salt Lake City. So this "Celebrate Family History" was a pretty big event - little did I know.

President Eyring from the First Presidency of the Church spoke, along with David McCullough, an acclaimed author of some great books that I have yet to read. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang and some videos were shown that reflected some family history stories.

One of my favorite things happened with the showing of the film "Clan McCloud." It was a story that a father was telling of his 7 year-old son wanting to learn to play the bagpipes. The scenes that ensued were hilarious - this young kid making horrible noise with the bagpipes, the family leaving the room, ceramic figurines breaking, the neighbors staring. Along the way, the entire family caught the spark of learning about their heritage. They learned highland dances and the young boy, Jared, became quite the bagpiper. And it showed him teaching his daughter about the different tartans, and how this heritage seeking is shaping who they are. Cut to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir - bagpipes are sounding that starting note of the air entering the belly of the bagpipe, and Amazing Grace beginning. The camera moves to the bagpipe players, and focuses on one man, Jared. The boy! It was incredible. The crowd went wild - as much as a bunch of genealogical lovers can. It was beyond touching. I shed a few tears. It was incredible to think about the change that this one little boy made in the lives of his family, the connection that he forged, and the living history that he showed so fully in his talent. And the words and music to "Amazing Grace" I love.

Then David McCullough shared some thoughts - a lot, actually - some things that were poignant to me were:
~ to understand the past, we have to understand their present. read the books they read, the poems they memorized, the verbiage they used.
~ journals are essential. it shows the humanity of who the person really is, in a way that someone else couldn't show. Also, it's a great way to process through feelings and thoughts.
~ Margaret McFarland, a mentor to the famous Mister Rogers, of Neighborhood fame, said that there are always teaching moments, and it's all about attitude. Attitude isn't taught, it's caught. And in relation to history, this is vital. He encouraged the audience to garner a habit of excitement about history and share that with the younger generation, because history is what makes a great education and changes lives.

Ultimately, I left feeling great and encouraged, and the feeling is in me once again to be a teacher. Something to think about!