More battles, kings, deaths, saving
I am growing weary of the narrative of history framed by Chronicles. It started with Adam, tells the story of David, Solomon and the Temple, and takes us to Babylon. I don’t know precisely how many years this covers, but it’s many. And while I understand the importance of ‘chronicling’ the important events of history, I’m wondering about who gets to decide what’s important, and likewise, what’s left out.
During these hundreds or thousands of years, plenty of things must have happened in God’s world, other than battles and the rising and falling of kings and temples. Who was healed by God’s mercy? Who found the love of their life? Who was hurt? Who mourned? This makes me want to read other stories about that same time and space to round out my understanding of what was going on, beyond this one-dimensional male-framed narrative.
And even beyond this specific place, what was happening in the wider world at this time? If everyone and everything is God’s, even if not referenced in writings, God was active in the Egyptian worlds, Chinese dynasties, Native civilizations. It would be fascinating to cast a wider net on the story of salvation, than simply the narrative contained in scripture.
This morning, I’m thinking about how history is written by the victor. It’s written with the perspectives, biases and limitations of the author. Sometimes that’s intentional, but even if it’s not, one person’s narrative cannot possibly describe even the situation they’re in. Add multiple voices and the same situation becomes vastly more complex and accurate. And of course, one person cannot describe a narrative of something they’re not privy to.
For example, King David was alive in the 11th Century BCE. During that same time:
- Melanthus, legendary king of Athens died
- King Wu overthrows the Shang Dynasty
- Evidence of farming was discovered in Kenya
- Phoenician alphabet was invented
- Latins arrive in Rome
And this is only a highlight. What stories, heartaches, graces, and loves I missed because I haven’t searched them out? How is God’s grace evident in the world, outside of the tiny myopic narrative from Chronicles? Like the radio show of Paul Harvey, I’m interested in knowing “The Rest of the Story”. To be clear, I’m not faulting the author of Chronicles, or the editors of our modern-day Bible. But there is plenty of God’s love and grace that I’m missing, because of using that one narrative.
During these hundreds or thousands of years, plenty of things must have happened in God’s world, other than battles and the rising and falling of kings and temples. Who was healed by God’s mercy? Who found the love of their life? Who was hurt? Who mourned? This makes me want to read other stories about that same time and space to round out my understanding of what was going on, beyond this one-dimensional male-framed narrative.
And even beyond this specific place, what was happening in the wider world at this time? If everyone and everything is God’s, even if not referenced in writings, God was active in the Egyptian worlds, Chinese dynasties, Native civilizations. It would be fascinating to cast a wider net on the story of salvation, than simply the narrative contained in scripture.
This morning, I’m thinking about how history is written by the victor. It’s written with the perspectives, biases and limitations of the author. Sometimes that’s intentional, but even if it’s not, one person’s narrative cannot possibly describe even the situation they’re in. Add multiple voices and the same situation becomes vastly more complex and accurate. And of course, one person cannot describe a narrative of something they’re not privy to.
For example, King David was alive in the 11th Century BCE. During that same time:
- Melanthus, legendary king of Athens died
- King Wu overthrows the Shang Dynasty
- Evidence of farming was discovered in Kenya
- Phoenician alphabet was invented
- Latins arrive in Rome
And this is only a highlight. What stories, heartaches, graces, and loves I missed because I haven’t searched them out? How is God’s grace evident in the world, outside of the tiny myopic narrative from Chronicles? Like the radio show of Paul Harvey, I’m interested in knowing “The Rest of the Story”. To be clear, I’m not faulting the author of Chronicles, or the editors of our modern-day Bible. But there is plenty of God’s love and grace that I’m missing, because of using that one narrative.
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