YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE TERRITORY OF LIMITATION

 In the musical “The Music Man” con artist “Professor” Harold Hill tells his fellow traveling salesmen that you have to know the territory before he exits a train to sell the good people of River City, Iowa a musical band with 76 trombones. And then in one of Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry movies San Francisco detective Harry Callahan after the demise of a crooked cop says to himself, “A man has to know his limitations.”  I reminded of these bits of movie triva while reading Trusting Grace by J, Claude Huguley. His son Nathan, a dear friend of mine, presented me a copy of the book for my reading enjoyment.

A perceptive reader is now perhaps asking how a book on journeying from fear to grace could a demented mind like myself to begin mental associations with a cons artist salesman and a trigger-proned policeman. Well, in chapter one , the author briefly introduces four limits which he expounds upon in succeeding chapters. These limits are:

1.    Limited Security

2.    Limited Resources

3.    Limited Knowledge

4.    Limited Choice

Since Huguley does a great job in defining these limits, tt is not my aim in this essay to dive into descriptions of these limits but rather use these limits as a springboard into the world of imagination in general and historical imagination in particular. But before I move on to describe the importance of possessing a historical imagination, I want to address of how limits play a vital part in that possession.

First, limits come to us in two ways. There are natural limits which includes our DNA, our personalities, our emotional states, and our interests. These limits are with us since birth and cannot be changed or eliminated. Imposed limits, in contrast, are patterns of behaviors, whether positive or negative in which we inherit from our families and other human associations. These limits are changed or eliminated.

Second, many of us see our limits, whether natural or imposed, as unfair according to our standards. No matter how good we are at a particular activity, someone else will run faster, jump higher, receive higher test scores, etc. Rather than compare with others and bemoan reality, we should set a standard of excellence for ourselves that we will strive to achieve regardless of what others  are doing.

In a recent virtual interview, a former First Lady lamented the unfairness of life, particularly in regards to skin color in her case. Coming from a woman who graduated from two Ivy educational institutions, is glamorous, has a choice of three mansions in which to live, whose husband was elected president twice, and who has two lovely adult daughters, her lamentations rang hollow.

Compare her situation to that of a former college and NFL head football coach who was interviewed several years ago. He grew up in the rural South, whose father was a bootlegger and gambler, and spent time in prison, whose mother was addicted to alcohol and drugs, and committed suicide. When he entered college his fear was that he would be judged by his family situation. He quickly learned, however, that no one cared about his and that people only focused on how he conducted himself in the present. He became one of only a handful of coaches who had won both a college national championship and a Super Bowl victory.

Third, we must accept our limitations with humility. In the arena of foreign policy, Robert Kaplan in Warrior Politics that the constraining forces of geography will be overcome only by accepting them and the historical records of human interaction with geography. Such an approach “…starts with humility, with seeing how the struggles of today are strikingly similar of those of antiquity.” (p.27) (If only our national leaders had understood this reality when deciding to remain in Afghanistan to “nation build.”)

On a personal level, consider the last lines of William Earnest Henley’s famed 19^th century poem “Invictus”- I am the captain of my fate; the master of my soul.”  While “Invictus” has inspired untold numbers of folks through difficulties, challenges, and hardships such as Nelson Mandela in his South African imprisonment, an unbridled  commitment to its spirit can lead one to hubris in which I and I alone am responsible for my success regardless of my limits, my relationships, or even God.

Finally, on a positive note, we must see, as Huguley maintains, our limitations as a gift. He notes, “Limitations may feel like burdens or obstacles, but they are still gifts.” (p. 6) Since our Creator God graciously gave us gifts, we in turn graciously accept them. Limits in a profound sense define the boundaries of our humanness because practically we cannot be all things to all people. Our humanness is then completed as we partner with God to work on our inner selves.

For far too many years, organizations sought to make their employees “well-rounded.” Notwithstanding any strengths identified in an individual, the focus was on changing or eliminating any “weaknesses” found. Hunan resource departments went to great lengths to create so-called improvement plans for their employees to take action and their supervisors to monitor progress. Fortunately, the strengths-based movement has helped to end this assault upon natural limits while at the same time helping peoplr break free of negative imposed limits.

Imagination used skillfully can enable us to overcome our realistic limits and assist us to assess unrealistic limits. Realistic limits, most of which are imposed, are those that we may be able to challenge with at least some degree of success while unrealistic limits, most of which are natural, are those that cannot be challenged to ant degree of success

As a historian, I believe that the proper study of history is not to fill one’s brain full of dates and events (as important as dates and events are) but to infuse one with a historical imagination fusing purpose and power into a powerful tandem. Three examples of this historical imagination will suffice;

1.    In July 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaraion of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the document, imagined a free and independent United States (purpose). The ensuing battles with the British Army did not go well until General George Washington reimagined winter war and led the Continental Army across the Delaware River in December 1776 to defeat the Hessian mercenaries at Trenton. For much of the remainder of the war Washington emulated the Roman Legions wearing down Hannibal when the Carthaginians invaded Italy (power).

2.    In July 1863, Federal General John Buford envisioned the coming battle with Confederate forces at Gettysburg and positioned his cavalry unit so as to slow down the enemy until reinforcements arrived (power). The following November at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery Abraham Lincoln gave a brief address which became known as the Gettysburg Address in which he stated a new birth of freedom will come for all Americans (purpose).

3.    In August 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have Got a Dream” speech during the March on Washington in which he announced that in the future Black Americans in particular and by extension all Americans must be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin (purpose). The following year the Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by Lyndon Johnson, This act outlaws racial discrimination in public accommodations, interstate transportation, etc. (power)

Historical imagination fusing purpose and power also works for persons. J.D. Vance decided the break the limits of relationship dysfunction and substance abuse imposed upon him (purpose). After graduating from high school, Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps and then attended the Ohio State University and Yale Law School. He then married and has children. Vance currently serves as a U.S. Senator (power).

I will conclude this essay with a personal narrative. My parents divorced when I was a preschooler. Dad had three subsequent wives and mom had six subsequent husbands. As a result, I moved 18 times before graduating high school. Often, I found myself the new kid in school. I would bemoan the fact that my situation was unfair until the age of 16. During the middle of my junior year in high school I made my final move, to my paternal grandparents who offered the love and stability I needed. After graduation I entered college. In the next four plus years I became a Christian, married my college sweetheart, and received a superb university education.

Although I perceived my life was “more fair” as a result of the decisions I made from age 16 through 22 to challenge and overcome most of the limits placed upon me in my childhood, I had difficulty explaining those limiting events to my wife and children. That is until I found and read J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy. Change Vance’s Kentucky and Ohio to my Oklahoma and California, I found an almost eerie parallel in our life journeys, especially at the emotional level. I recommended the book to my children and my son shared with me that he better understood me after reading it.

While I feel that I have indeed overcome the familial limits of my childhood and youth, I now face face physical challenges in senior adulthood- a left shoulder and arm that have required three surgeries, a slipped disc in my lower back, and a diagnosis of Parkinson’s. I am by nature a stoic but stoicism can carry one so far. I am learning to forgive my body of perceived weaknesses and turning those weaknesses into strengths by focusing on continuing to develop my character in light of the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-2), for example.                  

Our limits are indeed a gift from our Creator. Let us rejoice and be glad in them as well as the One who gifted us. We will begin to know truly the territory of our limitations by doing so. This is true not only for us personally but also for our families, organizations, amd nations.