Time To Think Backward

It’s Friday, the first day of the Foolish Month. Before I jump far into this month, I want to pause and think backward.

This week has had many glances over the shoulder, from the present to yesterday and yesteryear. How did we get here and now? Questions fly in my spirit as I analyze what’s happening “today.” Never would I have imagined this day in light of all my yesterdays.

Questions pepper my spirit, like, “What shaped me to be what I am today? This is not a “who” question. The “who” goes like this. “Who shaped me to be who I am today?” Add on, “I wonder if they are happy with their results?”

There is a difference between the who’s, what’s, wherefore’s, and why, oh, why!

Keep that in mind as you work on answering the questions. It is crucial. You are who you are. Perhaps now is a good time to figure out why. Your future may thank you later!

There’s a lot of water under the bridge of history, and it may be nye impossible to unravel the past to determine the present.

Ask yourself some broad-stroked questions. “Am I who I thought I would be when I entered those high school years of life? Did I ever expect to go where I went?” My answer? I had no idea what I would be. If I could have looked 50 years into the future, would I be surprised with where I am today? Perhaps. Some people want to be better, but I am satisfied with my results.

Today, being the first day of your future, why not be content where you are, or make some change for the better. Paul says to forget the past, but we seemed anchored in nostalgia. Antique stores, photos, high school yearbooks – all exist because we enjoy remembering the past.

Who and Where Are Your Friends

Do you ever wonder who your friends are? Just think about one and wait for their call or message! Is your phone ringing yet? Sometimes that works. Cognitive awareness? Deja vu?

Friends I’ve made through the years and across the miles
are more precious today due to the treasure trove I find in people.

Many years ago, I realized I was the one to initiate most reconnections. Except for one with the initials D.C. (You know who you are because you call me out of the blue several times a year – thank you). Names pop up on my radar, and I’ll think about what our friendship means, then I’ll reach out. Sometimes, you reach out to me just as I think of you. I welcome those connective tissues that keep us loosely in contact regardless of direction.

In 1837, nearly 30 years before his death, Abraham Lincoln said, “All our friends.—They are too numerous to be now named individually, while there is no one of them who is not too dear to be forgotten or neglected.” [Source]

I wonder if he knew about his future and how a nation would divide, reunite, and work forever to heal and forge a new path forward? Friendships and families were on different sides of the issue. Just three years before his death, he phrased this thought: “…the loss of enemies does not compensate for the loss of friends.“

Friendships are easily tossed to the side, even when once forged in the crucible of the fire and pressure. Has their time come to be forgotten? Perhaps. Social platforms make it easier to stay connected, but the pandemic has caused too many to turtle into their hole and hide.

Tell Me About Your Family

A TV show has had many comments about a mainstay of its 12-year run. The Family Dinner Table. No matter what’s happening in life, and regardless of the struggles to maintain cordial connections, their time around the Sunday Dinner table is what keeps them connected. Respect is garnered. Advice is dispensed. Space is allowed for each to be their own unique personality. Judgment happens, but there’s something safe about it coming from the family that has your roots.

That does not describe the average family in these times. Nor in any times of our recent and ancient past.

We are scattered hither and yon, even if we live on the same street. Sides are chosen, lines are drawn, and we end up in bitter disputes that will not be rectified in this life. Trust me. I know. I’m facing some of these challenges right now.

It takes hard work to protect the family from inside, as well as out.

Someone draws boundaries on what they allow and accept, and even though Jesus may do something differently, we struggle with allowing “them” to be where they are. Yes. I’ve drawn the lines myself. As I age, perhaps a sign of these times, I allow for more separation between what I think and what you have chosen.

The story is told of a man who had a wild side and a much-sought-after talent by music groups. Living at his childhood home, night after night, he would slip out to ply his talent. One morning, coming home late, he found his mother in his room praying and crying over his shoes, “God, let the man who walks in these shoes find his way home to you.”

What could we do more that would accomplish more to reunite the family, repair the broken bonds, and strengthen all of us? Pray. Weep tears. Trust God. God’s timing is not yours, nor mine.

Instead, we reject the family member(s) and do what Jesus would most likely never do. We throw them away.

Pause with me. Let that be how you did things in yesteryear. Today? Make a plan to handle your family better in the future. Your future will thank you.