Going Back

Sometimes when we are in a quiet and meditative moment, we think back on things that happened in our life long ago.  Sometimes, those events might have included perhaps a teacher from our elementary or high school years.  Or maybe a special friend from our teen years.  Maybe we recall something that happened from a prior work experience.  It could be something we remember from a trip or vacation.  Or maybe it's something having to do with our family, our children, or friends.  I know my descriptions of those things right now are very general in nature, and I intended for them to be that way.  Because each of us has our own memories, both pleasant and unpleasant, that remain in our minds from long years ago.

And with those memories often come the thoughts of more innocent times.  We think about healthier bodies that responded much better to what our brains told them to do than they do now.  We think about the security of living with parents who loved us and cared for us.  We remember relationships we had with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives.  We think of teachers and others who mentored us, accepted us, and yes, loved us.  The carefree childhood days of summer, the Christmases past of family gatherings, the birth of our own children.  We have many memories, at least most of us do, of a mostly pleasant and innocent time.

And we sometimes long for those kinds of times to come back into our lives as we deal with the issues of today.  We juggle health issues, deal with bureaucracies of many kinds, try to understand societal ills such as homelessness and addiction, work hard sometimes to foster and maintain relationships, and we lament for those in far off lands who are starving or killed due to the actions of those with a lust for power and dominance.

Yes, we had the cold war and the atom bomb back in the 1950's.  We had illnesses then…polio, measles, and others, that had no prevention or cure.  Some of us remember the Iron Lung…Google it if you don’t know what that was.  We also had the Iron Curtain and the after-effects of World War II and Korea...automobiles that were death traps.  The Interstate Highway System was in its infancy.  Smoking was considered to be fashionable.  Family planning and birth control were very hit and miss.

But by and large as kids, we didn't worry so much about those kinds of things and just lived our lives.  We didn't have, at least in my experience, all of the stress and strain of trying to deal with the world's ills while at the same time trying to navigate our own daily lives.

Today we're bombarded with the latest to come out of the 24 hour news cycle.  We have pundits and commentators constantly barraging us with their opinions and half-truths, trying to bring us around to their point of view.  Politicians are experts in twisting the truth to their advantage without plausibly being accused of outright lying.  We are urged to buy everything from insurance to household gadgets to Verbo vacations.  We’re told the country is going to the dogs in one breath, and someone else tells us how great everything is in the next breath.  We’re pulled this way and that.  Relationships have generally become more superficial and more dependent on our political or religious views.  It seems like a different world…and in many respects, it is.

But even though we recall the past and sometimes wish things were different, we don’t live in the past.  We live in the here and now, on our way to the not-yet.  The past is behind us and done.  It’s effects on us remain, but to go back and live it again is not within our power to do.

And to be honest with ourselves, if we really thought it through, how many of us really would want to go back and live it again…the childhood years of bumps and bruises and broken bones…those awkward teen years of first love, or rejection by the in crowd.  Or those years when we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do in life and hadn’t a clue how to proceed.  Those years when we didn’t have two nickels we could rub together.  The years when we lost our parents, grandparents, and others to old age or illness.

It wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns back then, contrary to what we might think.  There were real issues…real life-and-death decisions…real consequences…real dangers.  Do we really want to go back to the dial telephone, polio and the Korean war?  I think not.

But, can we today obtain at least a measure of what we might describe as the innocence of those years?  I think we can.  Now, I don’t advocate that we go live under a bridge somewhere and drop out of society.  But I do think we can choose to NOT listen to the constant noise of those selling half-truths of some kind and political dogma from whatever camp it may be coming from.  We can choose to be aware of what’s going on around us, but realize that we can affect only what is in our sphere of influence.  We can be circumspect in our decisions to enter into a conflict of some kind or bow out and live to fight another day.

We may not be able to control the 24 hour news cycle, the latest tragedy overseas, or what this or that politician says or does..  But we CAN decide whether or not we will be controlled by those things.  We CAN decide what our response will be to those things.

And most of all, we can continue to affirm, develop, and revel in our relationship with the ONE who never changes…never falters…never disappoints…always loves…always cherishes…always listens.  As the old song says about the God of the Universe…”I go to him in prayer…he knows my every care…”  Spend some time in prayer this day.

 

Blessings,