Life in a Rearview Mirror

This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it

(Psalm 118:24)

The right side mirror of a car I once owned had a message printed on it: CAUTION.  OBJECTS MAY BE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR.  It might be helpful if a similar warning were stamped on our minds to make us aware that some distortion may exist as we remember the past.

Are you living life in a rear-view mirror?  Many people are.  They are so busy looking back, remembering how good things were in the past that they miss the joys of the present. Most of us enjoy looking back, reliving past experiences, but in doing so it is important to remember that memories, like the calibration of a bathroom scale, may be out of kilter.

When Bob and I married in 1959, ground beef sold for 19 cents a pound.  That sounds like quite a bargain until we recall that his salary was $50 a week and I received 50 cents an hour – not uncommon wages at the time.  So while it is true that the price of just about everything has risen sharply over the ensuing years, so have wages.

There is much more crime and violence, hunger and poverty, injuries and diseases than in the good old days, but thanks to modern law enforcement, medical advances and everyday conveniences, most of us are living longer and more comfortably.  Remembering these facts will ensure a healthy perspective as we view the past, present and future.

One of the reasons we experience so much negativity is the media.  Morning, noon, evening, and even half-hour accounts, 24-hour news channels, and late-breaking reports inundate our senses with tragedies and terrors, atrocities and disasters from around the world.  Unlike our parents and grandparents who generally had only scant, well-after-the-fact accounts of happenings outside their area of acquaintance, our hunger for information has eradicated that luxury.

Moral decline, rebellion and disrespect for other people’s rights and values are indeed on the rise.  But what is often not mentioned is that many of these incidents involve a small minority of the total population. Acts of charity and other heart-warming stories are generally regarded by broadcasting magnates as less profitable than scandal, disasters and violence, so generally receive little or no attention by the media

A good way to balance out the negative things we hear and see is to center our attention on the honest, decent, considerate people we know and the things they do for us and others.  Dwelling on the positives is not only a healthier way to live, it is in accordance to the instructions of our Lord:

Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, 

whatever things are just,whatever things are pure, 

whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, 

if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy –

meditate on these things 

(Philippians 4:8)

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Remembering the past, living in the present and viewing the future with a positive outlook is easier when we remember that each day is a gift from God, and that no matter the present circumstances, with faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, our future in Heaven is secure. Perhaps such attitudes from believers may even whet the appetite of those around us who do not have this hope, and they in turn, will come to know Him, too.

Lord, days gone by seem so much better now that I am on in years;
yet I wouldn’t want to go back for they held mistakes and tears.
Help me learn to keep in balance my remembrance of the past,
knowing that this day is fleeting and its memory, too, will last.
May I have Your grace to live it abundantly and whole,
So when I recall it later I’ll be nourished in my soul.