Misty, Musty 'god' of Yesterday
Are the good old days better?
Mention the "good ol' days" and most folks get a wistful, dreamy look in their eyes. Whether it's a summer evening on the front porch with a tall glass of lemonade or throwin' a log on the fire at grandpa's place, yesterdays tend to take on a reminiscent glow. In the attics of our memories, the heartaches and hardships of yesteryears fade, and the pleasant memories take on a near shekinah glory.
Why does this occur? The mind plays a game when life's demands twist and stretch us. When adversity applies its pressure, a twinge of nostalgia pops up. Struggling to survive in a stressed-out world, we naturally think of simpler days and a slower pace. There is nothing wrong with this unless we start living in the past. It is true that "those with their eyes fixed on the past risk a severe collision with the future."[1]
Recently, reading the book of Numbers, I spotted this "poor-me-things-are-awful, let's-go-back-to-the-good-ol'-days" disease. The issue for Israel was groceries. God said He would provide their every need and that included nutrition and nourishment. God's gift of manna meant door-to-door service, balanced nutrition, no inflation, no long lines, no refrigeration needs, and a "40-year-all-the-family-needs" supply FREE! Not bad! Unfortunately, when the manna menu became drab, their memories flashbacked to the good ol' days: "We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna." Numbers 11:5-6 (NASB) Did I miss something? I thought they hated life in Egypt. Wow, talk about selective memory considering their groaning and moaning while in Egypt.
Were the good ol' days less stressful? This editorial appeared in the Atlantic Journal.
The world is too big for us. Too much going on, too many crimes, too much violence and excitement. Try as you will, you get behind in the race, in spite of yourself. It's an incessant strain to keep pace . . . and still, you lose ground. Science empties its discoveries on you so fast that you stagger beneath them in hopeless bewilderment. The political world is changing so rapidly you're out of breath trying to keep pace with who's in and who's out. Everything is high pressure. Human nature can't endure much more!
When was this editorial written? It appeared in the Atlantic Journal on June 16th in the year 1833!
Let's sharpen the focus on yesterdays. How many things were truly great about the good old days? Unless I've missed the mark, folks back then found plenty to carp about as they reminisced of their good ol' days. Was life simpler? In some ways, yes. In other ways, no. Consider the profession of nursing. Today, nursing is complicated by expanding medical technology and equipment, new procedures, a myriad of new medications on the market, a ton of paperwork plus legal threats and hassles. Was nursing simpler a hundred years ago? You decide.
Nurses Duties in 1887
In addition to caring for your fifty patients, each nurse will follow these regulations:
1. Daily sweep and mop the floors of your ward, dust the patient's furniture and window sills.
2. Maintain an even temperature in your ward by bringing in a scuttle of coal for the day's business.
3. Light is important to observe the patient's condition. Therefore, each day fill kerosene lamps, clean chimneys, and trim wicks. Wash the windows once a week.
4. The nurse's notes are important in aiding the physician's work. Make your pens carefully; you may whittle nibs to your individual taste.
5. Each nurse on day duty will report every day at 7 a.m. and leave at 8 p.m., except on the Sabbath on which day you will be off from 12 noon to 2 p.m.
6. Graduate nurses in good standing with the director of nurses will be given an evening off each week for courting purposes or two evenings a week if you go regularly to church.
7. Each nurse should lay aside from each pay day a goodly sum of her earnings for her benefits during her declining years so that she will not become a burden. For example, if you earn $30 a month, you should set aside $15.
8. Any nurse who smokes, uses liquor in any form, gets her hair done at a beauty shop, or frequents dance halls will give the director of nurses good reason to suspect her worth, intentions, and integrity.
9. The nurse who performs her labors and serves her patients and doctors faithfully and without fault for a period of five years will be given an increase by the hospital administration of five cents a day, providing there are no hospital debts that are outstanding.
Good ol' days? Anyone glad there have been some changes since 1887? How do I keep from falling into the trap of living in the past?
First, be on guard for the misty, musty god of yesterdays. The pleasant memories of the good ol' days may become the "god" of spiritual decay. In fact, the "good old days" can be abbreviated "g.o.d." Here are symptoms to watch for.
* When fresh thinking raises eyebrows--not enthusiasm.
* When status and status quo are synonymous. Someone said, status quo is Latin for "the mess we are in."
* When programs are maintained because "we've always done it that way."
* When church members spend most of their time talking about the decade back when . . .
* When rigidity sets in like rigor mortis.
Enjoy the memories from the past, but don't live in the past. It is the enemies way of stealing your opportunities today.
Second, identify areas where you're prone to live in the past. Is it family life--longing for the days when the children were small? Perhaps church life--relishing the style of ministry from past decades? Maybe it is a geographical longing to go back to a setting of no smog, less people, and simpler times. When adversity applies its pressure and a twinge of nostalgia pops up, slowly read and reread these wise words:
Don't long for 'the good old days,' for you don't know whether they were any better than these! Ecclesiastes 7:10 (TLB)
Do not say, 'Why is it that the former days were better than these?' For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this. Ecclesiastes 7:10 (NASB)
Third, relish memories of the past but focus on the future. Write these verses on a three-by-five card and carry them as a reminder:
I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 (NASB)
Don't live for the misty, musty god of yesterdays; instead, live to glorify God today and serve Him in the new days ahead!
[1] The Daily Walk Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 153.
Why does this occur? The mind plays a game when life's demands twist and stretch us. When adversity applies its pressure, a twinge of nostalgia pops up. Struggling to survive in a stressed-out world, we naturally think of simpler days and a slower pace. There is nothing wrong with this unless we start living in the past. It is true that "those with their eyes fixed on the past risk a severe collision with the future."[1]
Recently, reading the book of Numbers, I spotted this "poor-me-things-are-awful, let's-go-back-to-the-good-ol'-days" disease. The issue for Israel was groceries. God said He would provide their every need and that included nutrition and nourishment. God's gift of manna meant door-to-door service, balanced nutrition, no inflation, no long lines, no refrigeration needs, and a "40-year-all-the-family-needs" supply FREE! Not bad! Unfortunately, when the manna menu became drab, their memories flashbacked to the good ol' days: "We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna." Numbers 11:5-6 (NASB) Did I miss something? I thought they hated life in Egypt. Wow, talk about selective memory considering their groaning and moaning while in Egypt.
Were the good ol' days less stressful? This editorial appeared in the Atlantic Journal.
The world is too big for us. Too much going on, too many crimes, too much violence and excitement. Try as you will, you get behind in the race, in spite of yourself. It's an incessant strain to keep pace . . . and still, you lose ground. Science empties its discoveries on you so fast that you stagger beneath them in hopeless bewilderment. The political world is changing so rapidly you're out of breath trying to keep pace with who's in and who's out. Everything is high pressure. Human nature can't endure much more!
When was this editorial written? It appeared in the Atlantic Journal on June 16th in the year 1833!
Let's sharpen the focus on yesterdays. How many things were truly great about the good old days? Unless I've missed the mark, folks back then found plenty to carp about as they reminisced of their good ol' days. Was life simpler? In some ways, yes. In other ways, no. Consider the profession of nursing. Today, nursing is complicated by expanding medical technology and equipment, new procedures, a myriad of new medications on the market, a ton of paperwork plus legal threats and hassles. Was nursing simpler a hundred years ago? You decide.
Nurses Duties in 1887
In addition to caring for your fifty patients, each nurse will follow these regulations:
1. Daily sweep and mop the floors of your ward, dust the patient's furniture and window sills.
2. Maintain an even temperature in your ward by bringing in a scuttle of coal for the day's business.
3. Light is important to observe the patient's condition. Therefore, each day fill kerosene lamps, clean chimneys, and trim wicks. Wash the windows once a week.
4. The nurse's notes are important in aiding the physician's work. Make your pens carefully; you may whittle nibs to your individual taste.
5. Each nurse on day duty will report every day at 7 a.m. and leave at 8 p.m., except on the Sabbath on which day you will be off from 12 noon to 2 p.m.
6. Graduate nurses in good standing with the director of nurses will be given an evening off each week for courting purposes or two evenings a week if you go regularly to church.
7. Each nurse should lay aside from each pay day a goodly sum of her earnings for her benefits during her declining years so that she will not become a burden. For example, if you earn $30 a month, you should set aside $15.
8. Any nurse who smokes, uses liquor in any form, gets her hair done at a beauty shop, or frequents dance halls will give the director of nurses good reason to suspect her worth, intentions, and integrity.
9. The nurse who performs her labors and serves her patients and doctors faithfully and without fault for a period of five years will be given an increase by the hospital administration of five cents a day, providing there are no hospital debts that are outstanding.
Good ol' days? Anyone glad there have been some changes since 1887? How do I keep from falling into the trap of living in the past?
First, be on guard for the misty, musty god of yesterdays. The pleasant memories of the good ol' days may become the "god" of spiritual decay. In fact, the "good old days" can be abbreviated "g.o.d." Here are symptoms to watch for.
* When fresh thinking raises eyebrows--not enthusiasm.
* When status and status quo are synonymous. Someone said, status quo is Latin for "the mess we are in."
* When programs are maintained because "we've always done it that way."
* When church members spend most of their time talking about the decade back when . . .
* When rigidity sets in like rigor mortis.
Enjoy the memories from the past, but don't live in the past. It is the enemies way of stealing your opportunities today.
Second, identify areas where you're prone to live in the past. Is it family life--longing for the days when the children were small? Perhaps church life--relishing the style of ministry from past decades? Maybe it is a geographical longing to go back to a setting of no smog, less people, and simpler times. When adversity applies its pressure and a twinge of nostalgia pops up, slowly read and reread these wise words:
Don't long for 'the good old days,' for you don't know whether they were any better than these! Ecclesiastes 7:10 (TLB)
Do not say, 'Why is it that the former days were better than these?' For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this. Ecclesiastes 7:10 (NASB)
Third, relish memories of the past but focus on the future. Write these verses on a three-by-five card and carry them as a reminder:
I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 (NASB)
Don't live for the misty, musty god of yesterdays; instead, live to glorify God today and serve Him in the new days ahead!
[1] The Daily Walk Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 153.