Christ, History's Ultimate Preservative
Generally, I idealize the military like only someone who has not been in the actual military made up of actual, fallible humans can. History major that I am, I see it as an implacable island of continuity in a sea of change for the sake of change. Since I was reading, appropriately, The Long Gray Line: The American Journey of West Point's Class of 1966 one year ago today, I came across this counterintuitive observation from an upholder of great traditions, West Point superintendent Dave Richard Palmer. He said the Army's corporate memory was little more than one generation long, stretching back no farther than the experience of the men in it. What?!
Fortunately, I was in the company of someone who could help me resolve this seeming non sequitur. As one of the formative experiences of his life which he often references, Dale served in the actual military rather than the one in my head. He helped me reconnect with what I knew from civilian life about the young and ambitious. Decisions are implemented, he recalled, by 22-year-old lieutenants. The sergeants who serve under them may know the best way from long experience, what Dale called the Blue Way. The lieutenants, freshly indoctrinated and itching to differentiate themselves from what has gone before may implement what Dale called The Orange Way simply because they can. Rare is the young officer, or young leader of any type, who will consult those older than him or her, those who have seen what works and what doesn't.
The Bible calls us to something different than demanding the way that will distinguish us, or grasping quickly for the way that is most familiar to us. "This is what the LORD says," pleads Jeremiah 6:16, "Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls." Leaders who deliberately pick from the barely gathered conventional wisdom of their own age, like Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12, don't ground themselves in the rest for their souls available by knowing one's place in history, and in history's Maker. Rehoboam is rash when challenged because he wants to exceed the legacy passed down to him in one stroke. Therefore, he doesn't heed those who have shaped family and country before him. Rehoboam, those with whom Jeremiah pleaded, and the young innovators with no sense of perspective all defy the wisdom in Proverbs 22:28 in their readiness to move life's boundary stones before they know who placed them where they are, and why.
Of course, the Bible offers us more than a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when we ignore the wisdom of previous generations. Before He ever verbally taught anything recorded in Scripture Jesus, reports Luke 2:52 taught us by example as He, "increased in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and men." Instead of teaching something new to ensure He stood out, He illuminated the ways in which the Scriptures and figures of the past pointed to Him. He sifted history and heritage for the best they had to offer.
Fortunately, I was in the company of someone who could help me resolve this seeming non sequitur. As one of the formative experiences of his life which he often references, Dale served in the actual military rather than the one in my head. He helped me reconnect with what I knew from civilian life about the young and ambitious. Decisions are implemented, he recalled, by 22-year-old lieutenants. The sergeants who serve under them may know the best way from long experience, what Dale called the Blue Way. The lieutenants, freshly indoctrinated and itching to differentiate themselves from what has gone before may implement what Dale called The Orange Way simply because they can. Rare is the young officer, or young leader of any type, who will consult those older than him or her, those who have seen what works and what doesn't.
The Bible calls us to something different than demanding the way that will distinguish us, or grasping quickly for the way that is most familiar to us. "This is what the LORD says," pleads Jeremiah 6:16, "Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls." Leaders who deliberately pick from the barely gathered conventional wisdom of their own age, like Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12, don't ground themselves in the rest for their souls available by knowing one's place in history, and in history's Maker. Rehoboam is rash when challenged because he wants to exceed the legacy passed down to him in one stroke. Therefore, he doesn't heed those who have shaped family and country before him. Rehoboam, those with whom Jeremiah pleaded, and the young innovators with no sense of perspective all defy the wisdom in Proverbs 22:28 in their readiness to move life's boundary stones before they know who placed them where they are, and why.
Of course, the Bible offers us more than a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when we ignore the wisdom of previous generations. Before He ever verbally taught anything recorded in Scripture Jesus, reports Luke 2:52 taught us by example as He, "increased in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and men." Instead of teaching something new to ensure He stood out, He illuminated the ways in which the Scriptures and figures of the past pointed to Him. He sifted history and heritage for the best they had to offer.
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