History

History and geography are not my strong subjects. I love stories but memorizing dates and names has never come easily. I love maps but remembering where things are and how to get there also takes a lot of effort.

What stands out to me in history is not necessarily what teachers want memorized or what tour guides want to point out. Big battles and wars mush in my brain, but the stories of life lived in all its weirdness are my favorite.

So I showed my complete ignorance of all things historical and geographical this last weekend in Boston. I’m sorry I didn’t know what Bunker Hill was. I’ll look it, up unless I forget, but it is a nice monument.

I enjoyed the sites for Ben Franklin and Paul Revere; the old churches were cool. I can’t remember which church it was where the pastor refused to take a stand against slavery since there were so many slaveowners in the congregation and he will forever be memorialized for his fear. 

Sophie's enthusiasm for history

My favorite plaque was next to the one about the patriots who hung the lanterns to warn of invasion. It was the story of a man who flew out of the church steeple to the astonishment of the crowd in 1757. Seriously, right in the middle of the build up to independence was the story of a daredevil who had no greater agenda than astonishing the crowd.

I stood there giggling for quite a while. This is what I love about humanity and history. In the midst of the intense divisions and political arguments at the beginning of our nation, someone flew out the steeple to astonish the crowds. 

What made him do it? Was he tired of political arguments and wanted to give people something else to talk about? And what made historians memorialize the act with a plaque? 

Was it a way to practice courage before the real test came? Or maybe a chance to find joy in so much uncertainty?

I don’t know, but it brought me delight and pause in the midst of so many heroes to remember someone who made a completely different choice that didn’t fit any of the normal categories or divisions.

I walked away with the nudge to take bold stands in the face of injustice and sometimes to fly out of church steeples to amuse the crowds.