I’ve been doing this thing for a few months now, this historical timeline. I bought a little gray notebook and I’ve drawn a line down the center of each 2 page spread, each 2 page spread representing one century. I start way back in the 32nd century BC with Narmer uniting Upper and Lower Egypt and I take it all the way up to the present day with Presidents Biden and Xi Jinping. As I read and listen and discover more things, I fill out the timeline.
For example, here’s what I have, so far, for the 6th century BC:
Across the top of the page, you can see Egypt going from her 3rd Intermediate Period into her first Persian Period:
Across the bottom, parts of China are under the Zhou Dynasty during the Spring And Autumn Period:
Phoenicians, sponsored by the Pharaoh Necho II, circumnavigate Africa around 600 BC (according to Herodotus who shows up at the beginning of the next century):
And Buddha and Confucius are both born (the former in Nepal, the latter near Shandong):
Here’s the 13th century AD:
I’ve got the Byzantine Empire across the top. After the Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204 (partly in response to that city’s Massacre of the Latins in 1184), they held it and ruled it until the founder of the Byzantine Palaiologan Dynasty, Michael VIII, managed to take it back:
Crusades 4 through 9 all happened during the 13th century and the Papal Inquisition began in 1231:
And the Song Dynasty held on to their bit of China until they were overwhelmed by the Mongols:
I also make room for the odd things that are of particular interest to me, like when the Beast of Gevaudan was eating its way through south central France in 1760s:
…or in 249 BC when an impious Roman consul named Publius Claudius Appius Pulcher tossed the Sacred Chickens of Rome into the sea:
And if you look here, in 1954, you’ll see my dad, Anthony Leroy Creekmore.
Between 1954 and 1982 (when I show up on the timeline), my dad had lived nearly 28 years of life. I’m told he was a great basketball player. His plan, I think, was to play professional basketball, the professional basketball of the early 1970s…
But he didn’t quite get there.
Fast forward to the day before his birthday in 1982 and I come into his life. And I grow. And grow. By the time I’m in high school, I’m unusually tall with prodigious jumping ability, two gifts that are of particular use in the game of basketball.
But here’s the thing, we’d occasionally shoot hoops together and he came to every game I ever played, but my dad was never the kind of dad who aggressively pushed me into basketball.
The main thing I got from my dad was Jesus.
Every Sunday morning there was Bible class and worship service and preaching. Every Sunday night there was more worship service and preaching. On Wednesdays there was mid-week Bible study. Sometimes there’d be gospel meetings during the week and he’d take us all to church for more preaching.
And I’m talking about Jesus Jesus, Bible Jesus. There was no angle to it, no “Get Jesus and he’ll give you lots of money” or “Jesus is a good way to be a basically good person”, it was “Know the self-sacrificial Jesus who is both Lord and Son of God who invites mankind to live in his kingdom.”
And that Jesus, Jesus Jesus, teaches a lot of odd, counter-intuitive things. Love other people the way you love yourself. Give as God has given you. Turn the other cheek. Don’t look at women lustfully, as if they are not people. He that is greatest among you shall be a servant. Etc.
He teaches the kind of things that, if followed, will make you a real weirdo.
I’m not as much of a weirdo as I should be, but I’m trying. And now that I’m weeks (or days…) away from meeting my daughter, I want to teach her the same truth my dad taught me: If you have Jesus, you have everything. Above all else, know Jesus.
So thanks, Dad. And happy birthday.
Cheers.
Wow, what a great Dad. Glad you shared that.
Precious! Family traditions and memories are important as well as JESUS!
I may just be in a weird spot these days, but reading this made me weep. In the best way possible. You’re a good friend and brother, a good husband to my sister. And I’m thankful that you’ll be a good father too.
Beautifully Expressed. Your daughter is so fortunate to have a dad that’s thinking about these things and making them a priority before her arrival.
What’s fascinating (and admirable and noteworthy) about this piece is, first, that you’re the kind of person that charts global history and juxtaposes it with yours, that you capture the big “holy crap a kingdom fell” moments alongside the smaller, though no less important, moments like how you found your way into your faith. Second, that you’re invested enough to follow that history passion wherever it might take you just because it’s what you want. Third, that’ you’d wrap it neatly with a call to action related to your daughter. This is a good story, well-told, carefully constructed, with hope and purpose at its close. Nice work. And congratulations.