A Brief Meditation on Time
Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions. Ecclesiastes 7:10
Nostalgia is a funny feeling. Sitting here in my big brown reclining chair with my feet up and my lap top in my lap, I can think of thousand experiences I would like to relive. Why are the old days always better? Growing up I have desired to be in all sorts of past eras. Sometimes I’ve wanted to live among the Romans at the height of the Roman Empire and at other times I’ve wanted to be in the Old West. Recently I bought a book about the history of Camas, Washington my home town. I look through the photographs and yearn to experience a different time and place. Why does the past always seem better than the present?
But even if you have never wanted to live in another era, we have all wanted to go back and relive our past. There are moments in our lives when the good, warm, safe memories of the past flood our lives and the heart cannot help but bleed for the past. But even if it’s not a safe memory we often desire to return and change the past. I wish I could do this or said this. Things I would have done differently, words I would have spoken if given another chance. We yearn for the past because we have a deep desire to make it right.
In all this yearning, though, I think we take for granted our knowledge of the present. We never think about going back to relive an experience without our current knowledge. It’s a given. We want to go back with our current knowledge secure. But this is precisely the difficulty the writer of Ecclesiastes had in this longing. To long for the past is to long for its ignorance and lake of wisdom. Think about if you went back in time to that special place in your memory but lost all knowledge of the present, the past would then become just another present. Going back to that moment, without knowledge of the current is simply to live that experience without truly appreciating why it was so special or recognizing what was done wrong. The very reason you long to go back is not because you want to relive that moment but rather its that you want to know the future in the present.
As I sent here in this present moment writing this post I don’t know what the future holds. Is this a moment that my eighty year old self would want to come back to experience. It may or may not be. I won’t know until I’m eighty. Nostalgia is not a longing for the past; instead it’s a longing to know our futures. Our present knowledge of the past makes it a safe place. But for the present all bets are off.
A group called the Cry has a song called “Take my hand and walk.” In the song they quote Ecclesiastes “Why were the old days better?” To which the singer replies “because you’re scared of the unknown.” Remember the past, plan for the future, but as long as it is called today, embrace it.
Nostalgia is a funny feeling. Sitting here in my big brown reclining chair with my feet up and my lap top in my lap, I can think of thousand experiences I would like to relive. Why are the old days always better? Growing up I have desired to be in all sorts of past eras. Sometimes I’ve wanted to live among the Romans at the height of the Roman Empire and at other times I’ve wanted to be in the Old West. Recently I bought a book about the history of Camas, Washington my home town. I look through the photographs and yearn to experience a different time and place. Why does the past always seem better than the present?
But even if you have never wanted to live in another era, we have all wanted to go back and relive our past. There are moments in our lives when the good, warm, safe memories of the past flood our lives and the heart cannot help but bleed for the past. But even if it’s not a safe memory we often desire to return and change the past. I wish I could do this or said this. Things I would have done differently, words I would have spoken if given another chance. We yearn for the past because we have a deep desire to make it right.
In all this yearning, though, I think we take for granted our knowledge of the present. We never think about going back to relive an experience without our current knowledge. It’s a given. We want to go back with our current knowledge secure. But this is precisely the difficulty the writer of Ecclesiastes had in this longing. To long for the past is to long for its ignorance and lake of wisdom. Think about if you went back in time to that special place in your memory but lost all knowledge of the present, the past would then become just another present. Going back to that moment, without knowledge of the current is simply to live that experience without truly appreciating why it was so special or recognizing what was done wrong. The very reason you long to go back is not because you want to relive that moment but rather its that you want to know the future in the present.
As I sent here in this present moment writing this post I don’t know what the future holds. Is this a moment that my eighty year old self would want to come back to experience. It may or may not be. I won’t know until I’m eighty. Nostalgia is not a longing for the past; instead it’s a longing to know our futures. Our present knowledge of the past makes it a safe place. But for the present all bets are off.
A group called the Cry has a song called “Take my hand and walk.” In the song they quote Ecclesiastes “Why were the old days better?” To which the singer replies “because you’re scared of the unknown.” Remember the past, plan for the future, but as long as it is called today, embrace it.
posted by Matthew Miller at 10:09 AM
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