Putting the Past in Perspective
by Paul Huse
As I have grown older I find
myself reminiscing about the past. I often hear myself using phrases
like: "Back in the day ... ''. "When I was a young man ... ''. and even
"Back in the good old days." It may surprise some of you to know that I
remember when gas was well under a $1.00 a gallon.
It seems to most of us of a certain age that things were better in the
past than they are now. Prices were lower and the quality of goods was
better, say ten years ago, than they are today. People seem to be less
courteous and less well behaved than they were back in the day.
Why does it seem that things were better in the past than they
are today? Solomon says that this is a foolish question. "Do not say,
'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask
such a question." (Ecclesiastes 7:10) The truth is that we complained
about the price of gas when it cost 50 cents a gallon as much as we do
the price of gas now. People were no more courteous or well-behaved
twenty years ago than they are today. If the past seems better than the
present it is because we perceive it to be so.
Does this mean we shouldn't reminisce? No, we can
and should remember the past because it is part of who we are and it is
part of how we learn. In fact, not remembering the past and learning
from it can have disastrous results. The important thing to do when
remembering the past is to keep it in perspective.
Consider what happened to the children of
Israel when they were about to enter the land of promise. Time and
space do not allow me to give you the whole story, but this is the gist
of it. (For the complete story read Numbers 13 & 14.) Moses sent
twelve spies into Canaan on a scouting mission. When they came back
only two of the twelve (Joshua and Caleb) gave a good report of the
land. The other ten said that the people who inhabited the land were
too powerful for the Children of Israel to defeat.
Now, the spies had brought back evidence of how rich
the land was, but because of what the ten spies said the people
grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The text doesn't say so, but they may
have remembered how well fed and cared for they had been in Egypt.
(Numbers 11 :5-6) They decided to elect new leaders who would take them
back to Egypt. They forgot how bad things were in Egypt and how God had
delivered them from slavery there. They had forgotten how God had taken
care of them as they traveled through the desert. The Children of
Israel failed to put the past into perspective and thus failed to see
the bright future ahead of them. Needless to say, God was angry with
them and barred an entire generation from the land of promise.
How can we keep the past in perspective? When thinking about the
past, remember that along with the good times there were plenty of bad
times as well. Remember God's presence with us now, in the past, and
the future, in good times and bad. Most of all remember that God sent
His Son Jesus Christ to free us from slavery to sin, death, and the
devil to give us a bright future in heaven. May we always remember and keep that in mind.