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======History and Me ...======
Friday, Sept 6, 2013. What is my personal relationship to history. When we think
about recent history, we might be able to look back to the time 1989, when the
wall in Germany fell and suddenly thousands of people from east Germany were
able to come to the west. People had parties on the road ...!
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**My place in history ...**
Where am I in history? Perhaps you think about some important person. We have a
poster with Steven Jobs, the founder of Apple, in our house - issued by the
German Computer Society. He is a person who is linked to historically important
developments, to the growth of the IT society. Or you think about the president
of your country, to Barack Obama or Angela Merkel or others. They seem to be
"historic" individuals.
What is your place in history. I believe, that we have a distorted image of what
is important and what is not. We think about particular individuals, who seem
to have shaped our world. But that is more a narrative than the truth. It is
a feature of the human mind, that we are oriented towards people. And we try to
link important developments to people. So we generate the stories which bring
people into the center of important developments.
But history does not work like that. History is always something which many people,
many individuals, generate. There would be no American story without many Americans
who have built up the country. There would be no German economic wonder without
all the individuals, without the many Engineers and Scientists, Businessmen and
Secretaries, Cleaners and Workers, who just do their job in a good and trustful way.
It is not up to one special person - though special people will have their role.
A group needs some leadership - but it needs the people who do the work as well.
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**One Body ...**
**
The bible shapes the image of "one body" for the community of believers. We are
all one body in Christ. No one is unimportant. We are all needed, as are the different
parts of your own body, your fingers, your ears, your eyes, your backbone, your
flesh, your feet, your legs, your arms, your inner organs (barely visible to the
outside), your hairs, your fingernails etc etc.
It is good to learn about history. We will find that countries have florished, when
they gave everyone a chance, and when they had reliable institutions, reliable people,
reliable government. When justice reigns, when fairness is there, when your efforts
pay, then it makes sense to work hard, and you can harvest the fruits of your
efforts.
There is a place for every single individual in history. God wants everyone. He gave
every single person gifts and talents. And we are all needed. We all need to be able
to make our living, to work with others, to make our choices and to succeed with our
life. History is us all - and that is just fantastic. There are challenges enough
for everyone of us, and there is the Lord, who wants to be with us in all what we
do.
(Roland Potthast)
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