Living in the Past?

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended;  but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead," Phil. 3:13

As an observer of human nature I have noticed something worth investigating. Why is it that many older or aging people tend to reminisce about the past? This can not be dismissed as a stage of dementia. This is very common and I hear it often; both from preachers, and from people.

I often hear preachers talk about things that they experienced as young people. As though a teenager new to the faith would understand anything important. I hear Fellowship folks regularly talk about their early days or things that would have impressed a new convert. Parents talk about their grown children as if they were still babies. The big question is, why do we tend to live in the past?

There are several ideas about this, none of which is linked to a mental breakdown. One reason is that for some people, their best years are behind them. That the prime of life was the best life had to offer. And so they focus on when they felt they were on the top of their game. The older I get, the better I was.

Another idea is that as we age we develop a reluctance to learn anything new. The old wine is better to us. We tried that and it didn't work. We begin to value tradition over truth. Sound familiar? So in a nostalgic frame of mind we resist new ideas or new methods or new revelation. As though God is stuck in the first century with nothing relevant to say today.

One final idea is that, compared to our mythical early years, our present lives are pretty uneventful. We reminisce about how exciting it used to be. Preachers say that those early, exciting days ought to be our norm. We expect marriage to always be like the first date or the first kiss. This coincides with the idea that anything alive ought to keep growing. 

One outgrowth of this is boredom. Because it's not like it used to be, it's boring. Because it's not seat of your pants exciting, it's boring. If I can't do what I used to do, everything else is boring. 

Life must be lived to the end my friends. If you can't do what you used to do, find something less strenuous to do today. Your latter years will never be the prime of life. But they don't have to be wasted years either. And if you find that you always end up in the past, ask the Lord to help you stay focused on the future.

"But he who endures to the end shall be saved." Mat.24:13

Try this test. Listen and notice; when your pastor talks about the past, or when he says that how you used to be is how you ought to be. Is he smiling as he says this?