Lent IX: Nostalgia

 . . . as in the days of old . . . 

 - From Micah 7

Nostalgia has had better days.

Don't dare pine for years ago. "We don't want to go back to the Fifties."

But consider: In the Fifties, both of my sets of grandparents had successfully raised large families, in houses that they owned, with modest incomes, without going into debilitating debt.

 . . . Can we at least go back to that?

In the Fifties, relative to today, there was great comity and collaboration in our politics.

 . . . Can we at least go back to that?

In the Fifties, my parents met. They really were the only other person that either of them had ever seriously dated. They were married a little over a year after they met; they moved all over the place, whether or not they were close to family - - - they followed the career and the better things to come. They stayed together, no matter what.

 . . . Can we at least go back to that?

In the Fifties, people of faith had a comfort level in sharing their values and their aspirations. Freedom of Conscience and of Speech were rights that everybody felt was worth fighting for.

 . . . Can we at least go back to that?

And even, in the Fifties, it was not uncommon for a person to be able to take out a loan, simply on their reputation.

 . . . Can we at least go back to that?

There were no mass shooters of the month.
 . . . no constant drudge of angry, f-bombed pop songs on public radio
 . . . no steady availability of any image possible, no matter how violent or vulgar, to the eyes of twelve-year olds
 . . . no multiplicity of parents' and grandparents' homes to visit on holidays (only one set of parents, in one home, and two sets of grandparents, in two homes)
 . . . latchkeys and daycares were rare. Children were either at school or with one or both of their parents, at all times.
 . . . no helicopter parenting. Kids, and their neighborhoods, were trustworthy
 . . . no sky-high costs of college

 . . . Can we at least get back to that?

Scripture is full of remembrances of old times, that were better.

Your childhood seemed better. You're not just dreaming that. It's not just you. You may trust your own memory. If it was good, it was memorable (our minds are very efficient in jettisoning bad memories). And if it was better . . . of course you want to see it sustained for future generations.

Society moves forward in civil rights, the pursuit of peace, the stewardship of the Earth, the overall advancement of humanity.

But that doesn't mean there weren't some things we could have, and should have, kept doing.

Lent is a reflective season. You might take your time in prayer, your time in thought and solitude, to feed the good memories. Notice them, and celebrate them.

For, our best and most beautiful memories may be the closest taste we may ever have, of what God's eternal kingdom is like.

And that's something worth waiting for.