The Good Old Days
by SarahSE
Over the weekend I ran into not one, but two old friends from high school. The first was my old study buddy from Calculus class and the other was an acquaintance from music. I hadn't seen either of these two people for between 6 and 7 years, which is kind of crazy to think about. First of all, it's crazy for me to realize that I've been out of high school and away from my hometown for that long already--the time went very quickly! Second of all, it's crazy to see someone after such a long time and to have had so much happen in both of our lives and yet we are still able to connect and remember "the good old days."
It kind of reminds me of something that we are discussing in one of my classes though. Often in churches today people also seem to talk a lot about "the good old days," as in "Remember the good old days when all of the pews were full and our debts were paid and our church ran perfectly and we didn't have to worry about change?" However, it's probably very unlikely that the good old days were as good as we remember them, either in life or in the church. What's that old saying..."Hindsight is 20/20"? But maybe that statement is not always true. Aren't there times when we sugarcoat our past experiences, or dim the difficulties that we faced? Sure, there are times in which things seem to be going better and times in which things seem to get worse. (To everything there is a season: Ecclesiastes 3!) But when does remembering the past get in the way of being fully present in the present?
That's what makes running into old friends kind of exciting. These are people that I have at least a little history with, but at the same time it's interesting to reflect on the unexpected paths that people can end up taking in life--myself included. I mean if I were the same person I was 7 years ago, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be in seminary right now! In short, it seems that change is good, at least in the case of my old friends and me.
It kind of reminds me of something that we are discussing in one of my classes though. Often in churches today people also seem to talk a lot about "the good old days," as in "Remember the good old days when all of the pews were full and our debts were paid and our church ran perfectly and we didn't have to worry about change?" However, it's probably very unlikely that the good old days were as good as we remember them, either in life or in the church. What's that old saying..."Hindsight is 20/20"? But maybe that statement is not always true. Aren't there times when we sugarcoat our past experiences, or dim the difficulties that we faced? Sure, there are times in which things seem to be going better and times in which things seem to get worse. (To everything there is a season: Ecclesiastes 3!) But when does remembering the past get in the way of being fully present in the present?
That's what makes running into old friends kind of exciting. These are people that I have at least a little history with, but at the same time it's interesting to reflect on the unexpected paths that people can end up taking in life--myself included. I mean if I were the same person I was 7 years ago, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be in seminary right now! In short, it seems that change is good, at least in the case of my old friends and me.
posted by SarahSE at 10:07 AM
2 Comments:
Thats a thoughtfull and insitive post.
One of the vivid things I remember from Sunday School was an illustration that depicted the scene of Christ's ascension. The disciples stood staring into the clouds that had swallowed up the ascended the Christ. On the clouds was this caption: "Past glories." Don't we all sometimes get distracted by them? Good reminder that the present can be gloious too.
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