Remembered and Celebrated
I am not one who typically dwells on the past nostalgically. I have never gone to one of my high school reunions and I do not make scrapbooks. While I love sharing memories and looking at pictures, I choose not to live life looking in the rearview mirror often. I am not saying that nostalgia is a sin; it is a normal human emotion to long for people and places that were loved. But, like most of our emotions, it is problematic when one romanticizes the past or distorts or skews its perspective, or idolizes it by placing more value on past experiences than on the present moment or God’s will. I guess for me it is dangerous to compare the way things were done “back in the day” with making the most of today. I just don’t want to miss what God has for me right now enough to worry about tomorrow or replaying past mistakes and missed opportunities. For me, it is hard enough to adapt to new situations, and embrace change*, or even pursue trying new things when I am so busy focusing on what was that cannot be changed anyway. Further, it often makes me feel sad and full of regret, guilt and shame.
Having said that, I think memories are like a superpower. Time travel without moving an inch! There are some moments worth reliving and many people worth reminiscing. This kind of remembering still fills me up. I think the good thing about the past is that it informs the future by reminding one of lessons learned. Looking back provides valuable insights and offers guidance and perspective. And it reminds us that people are important, that they change us and that we are made for community. Sometimes, like last weekend, it restores hope and challenges us to keep walking the long road “home”. I got a text from a number I did not recognize and often these days such numbers are spam. I noticed that the area code was from AZ so I looked at it. It was a picture of “my boys”, who have long since become men, who were together reflecting on the life of one of their moms and their shared history in our youth ministry. They raised a glass and toasted me and Jim. This is the kind of reunion and backward glance that I love! These guys still matter so much to me and I am so humbled to have been trusted to be part of their walks of faith. I am grateful that they remember. I cried as I thanked God for the truth that ministry best happens in the context of relationship. Oh how I loved my time in ministry and miss it. Our last words to the youth group in Scottsdale were Paul’s words, “as for you, continue in the things you have learned because you know those from whom you have learned it.” (2 Tim. 3:14)
May God get all the glory. And may there be more opportunities to be filled to the brim.
* Change is hard for a Baptist who grew up with the 7 last words of the church – “We’ve never done it that way before”!