Last night I attended a beautiful performance of Handel's Messiah with a few of my friends. All of us dressed in 1700's attire, in tune with both the era of the work and the candlelight atmosphere of the evening. I have heard many parts of this work before, and who hasn't heard the "Hallelujah Chorus?" Yet this was my first time seeing it, and thus I became aware of the tradition of everyone standing during the famous chorus. At first, I thought this was merely a traditional show of reverence and honor to THE LORD, much like standing to sing a hymn. That, indeed, is true.
Then I learned the full story: When this chorus was performed for King George II, he rose. And when the king stands, you stand. Taking this further, His Majesty was recognizing he was the servant of the King of Kings. What an inspiring and humbling statement for a monarch to make: proclaiming to the world that JESUS is LORD!
Here on my eighth and thirtieth birthday, I find once again I have much to learn about history, even as I re-enact it. So much of what I learned in school, particularly grade school, failed to pique my interest. My freshman history course in college -- 200 years in 4 months -- presented some of the toughest academic challenges I ever faced. Multiple books and lectures piled up. I wrote two analytical papers constructed from historical source documents in Missouri dating back to the 1800's. I worked my tail off to get an A in that class, but not without benefit of a curve.
Sixteen years later, I recall a few lessons from that class to help people understand their heritage. I am also disposing of old, problematic lessons from my grade-school days or tacking on new ones. It's a constant process and a challenge. I have a wonderful book (The Revolutionary Soldier 1775-1783) that has helped a lot with my Revolutionary War portrayals, and I have "cheat sheets" for the Civil War era. I have learned many more things from other re-enactors on the field, in camp, and on the dance floor. To them, I am grateful beyond expression.
History, as I have pointed out before, is complicated and riddled with exceptions, stereotypes and gray areas. Unfortunately, the version we learn in school does not always reflect this. That alone is a major epiphany: realizing much of the early American history I learned in school left so much unsaid.
Yet I have undergone remedial education in other areas: GOD, relationships, news producing, leadership, communication. When I graduated from college in 1994, I could hardly believe it was all over. It wasn't by a long shot. In the last four years, it has intensified as I got right with GOD and received some intense life coaching. I feel like I am going through a second adolescence, taking in all those things I should've learned as a teenager but didn't. Sometimes I have to remind myself I'm not a kid anymore, especially when I attend so many events with so many enlightened young ladies and gentlemen.
Still, a second adolescence beats a midlife crisis any day. A midlife crisis says you've messed up and you can't go back. A second adolescence says this is a turning point, and you've got so much ahead of you. Getting right with GOD was a huge turning point. I did not start over from scratch, but I have disposed a lot of worthless things in my life and focused on pursuing meaningful passions. I have learned to stand, when to take my ease, and when to bow. If you haven't noticed, I bow a lot. I learned a long time ago a bow from a student to a teacher in Asian cultures signifies "I am ready to learn." Perhaps a few of our Colonial ancestors saw it that way as well.
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