The Good Old Days

   Think of the past....of "way back when" and "the good old days"

.........popsicles........

bare feet.........snapping beans

...fresh cow milk........no internet

........dances where the whole town showed up........

almost daily socializing with the neighbors........

bike rides........beach days........pretty dresses........

...swims in the lake........tough men

........huddling by the fire........

fresh sheets off the line.....hand-written letters in the mailbox

........beautiful cottage gardens........home-cooked meals........

mending worn clothing to make it "good as new"........

romantic courting........the good old days.

   When we think of them they sometimes seem dreamy. Sometimes I may wish I lived back then - or that I could take a step back in time. Why is it that we are so drawn to the past? Does it look safer because we already know the outcome? Does it seem more alive in our dreamy minds? And why is it we only seem to remember the good things? We don't dream of the filth that many cow farms had and some farms' carelessness to keep things clean (so bacteria grew - sometimes making people sick). We don't dream of the houses without air conditioning, or how the family was huddled by the fire, not because they thought it would be fun, but because they were all very cold. We don't dream of the sweaty layers of petticoats and health-detrimental corsets that were once worn to make a lady "look beautiful". We don't dream of the thieves, murderers, and adulterers of their own time. What is it that makes us dream of the good and forget the bad? And why can it be such a fun pastime of dreaming such things? Why do people enjoy learning how others used to live? Maybe life WAS proportionally safer and "nicer" back then...but what about all the hard times and evil of their own generation? Was Sodom and Gomorrah a nicer city to live in just because it was from long ago? I think not!

   Perhaps all these questions are just pointless. Perhaps our dreams of the past are too. We all know what is the most important. We can't move to a deserted island to ensure we live "like the good old days" or we'll not come in contact with the people we are called to minister to. What good are we as Christians if we hide the light?

(14) “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; (15) nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. (16) Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

~ Matthew 5:14-16

   Somewhere there is a line between being a light to the world and not being overcome by the world. Between being too worldly or living on a deserted island. Between ministering to modern culture and living the sins of it. Hmm. But as I read that sentence again I realize that it isn't really a line between the two, is it? Instead they both go together in perfect harmony: if we are overcome by the world, we will no longer be a light to it. And if we are a light to it, that means we are not overcome by it.

   Perhaps another well-known verse would go well here.

(2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

~ Romans 12:2