Generations

Listen and Learn

I normally write from a “churchy” perspective. I believe there is nothing more important than applying the theology we learn to our everyday lives. This time, though, I am writing about applying wisdom from another source – our elders.

It has been an interesting period of life for our family. My bride’s mother became ill and passed away in July. She had lost her father to COVID on December 26, 2020. This Fall she and her sister are dealing with the matter of their parents’ house and all the emotions that brings.

As they dug through a closet, they found newspapers sealed in large zipper-type freezer bags. They appear to be in good condition. The interesting thing about these newspapers is they are dated 1938-1944. Did you read that correctly? 1938-1944 – what a period of history. Although I extended the scope of this article to 1945, below are a few news articles from that more than interesting period of time:

14th July 1938
Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing an aircraft flight around the world in just ninety-hours.

14th July 1938
Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing an aircraft flight around the world in just ninety-hours.

6th February 1939
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain officially declares that any German attack on France will also be considered an attack on Great Britain.

1st September 1939
Nazi Germany invades Poland, thus beginning the Second World War in Europe.

March 18, 1940
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.

June 14, 1940
Paris falls under German occupation.

May 27, 1941
The German battleship ‘Bismarck’ is sunk in the North Atlantic, killing 2,300 people.

November 10, 1941
In a speech at the Mansion House in London, Winston Churchill promises, “should the United States become involved in war with Japan, the British declaration will follow within the hour.”

December 7, 1941
The Japanese Navy launches a surprise attack on the United States’ fleet at Pearl Harbor, thus drawing the United States into the Second World War.

December 11, 1941
Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.

July 6, 1942
Anne Frank’s family goes into hiding during the German occupation, in an attic above her father’s office in an Amsterdam warehouse. Her experiences and thoughts whilst hiding are recounted in her diary.

December 4, 1943 
The Great Depression officially comes to an end in the United States, with World War II related employment making unemployment figures fall rapidly. As a result, President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

June 6, 1944
The Battle of Normandy: ‘Operation Overlord‘, code named D-Day, commences with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The Allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland. This operation helps liberate France from Germany and also weakens the Nazi hold on Europe.

August 4, 1944
A tip from a Dutch informant leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse, where they find and capture Jewish diarist Annelies Marie “Anne” Frank and her family. They are transported to a German concentration Camp, as part of the Holocaust.

August 24, 1944
The Allies liberate Paris in the last battle of the campaign for Normandy, successfully completing ‘Operation Overlord‘.

December 15, 1944
A private aeroplane, carrying American jazz musician and band leader Glenn Miller, disappears in heavy fog over the English Channel while flying to Paris. No trace of the plane, crew or passengers is ever found.

January 27, 1945
The Second World War Holocaust: The Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps are liberated by the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red (Soviet Union) Army.

8th May 1945
Nazi Germany surrenders and V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) commemorates the end of the Second World War.

August 6, 1945
The United States detonates an atomic bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” on the Japanese City of Hiroshima. The bomb explodes at 08.15am local time and instantly kills 80,000 people. By the end of the year, many more thousands of fatalities are recorded due to radiation poisoning. This was the first atomic bomb used on civilians.

September 2, 1945
The official end of the Second World War: The final surrender of Japan, from a delegation aboard the battleship ‘Missouri’, is accepted by Supreme Allied Commander General Douglas MacArthur and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz.

References: (https://www.historic-newspapers.com)

How soon we forget. This afternoon I had a long talk with a dear friend who lived through this period. Each time we get together I hear more details of her experiences as a child in a foreign country who eventually immigrated to the United States. As we visited, there were tears, laughter, and hugs as her memory took my inquisitive mind down the journey of her history.

Friends, listening to those who have lived life longer than us is important. Learning their perspectives and opinions based on decades of life experiences is invaluable. In doing so, we may just learn something. In applying a lesson or two, we may just avoid making some mistakes in our personal lives or in our shared history.

I encourage you to take time to communicate and learn from those in your life who have been further down the road. There is wisdom in their words and experiences. You will benefit. Before long, you will be the one who has a long road of wisdom to pass down. I hope the next generation will listen, as well.

Kevin has served for over thirty years in the areas of music ministry, student ministry, recreation ministry, education ministry, and as a pastor. He has written curricula for youth and adult ministries for LifeWay Christian Resources. Kevin’s passion is to help individuals become spiritually healthy and lead healthy churches. He has a keen interest in helping leaders and churches find vision and engage with all generations within the challenges of the twenty-first century. He holds a BS in Education and an MA in Music from Jacksonville State University. He also hold an MDiv, DMin from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, with specializations in church health and next generation ministries. He and his wife, Tina, joyfully serve as pastor of First Baptist Church of Atmore, AL. They have two sons, Geoffrey and Nelson, and one daughter-in-love, Brooke, all of whom are active and serving in their churches in north Alabama. To read more about David, visit his blog.