Milan Kundera, a Czech-French novelist once remarked: “In the sunset of dissolution, everything is illuminated by the aura of nostalgia, even the guillotine.” Romans 14:5 reminds us: “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”
Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past. Its aura perpetuates a distinctive atmosphere and primarily correlates to a fondness or appreciation of how things were in times gone by. It can reflect both good and happy times, or it can include a deep consciousness of regret. Most former things in life are deemed either good or bad. Technology that may have previously been in its infancy, has probably surpassed itself over the years and can for most, improve the general standard of living or convenience.
Comparisons are usually considered a useful aspect or feature of life. Without them, we may experience difficulty in ascertaining the distinction between what is actually beneficial or detrimental. They can provide a solution for former mistakes and experiences and encourage a more agreeable present-day lifestyle.
The blessing of Christ’s temporal existence on earth paves the way to a richer life for those of wisdom, who seek it. Many examples have been given in His teachings to demonstrate the right approach for today’s fruitful living. Matthew 13:24-43 reminds us: He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.
So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
He who has ears, let him hear.”
Nostalgic thoughts create different emotional or constitutional perceptions. If the convictions are of a positive nature, they can aid well-being, satisfaction, fondness in mind, and possibly generate happiness within. However, if they are from a negative source, then the reverse may apply which can create drawbacks, causing disappointment or a depressive state of mind. Focusing on the future is a far better alternative to the negative issues of former years. Isaiah 43:18-19 reminds us: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
We need to extract and discard the negativity of former life and focus on the positive. If we dwell on badness then we don’t allow sufficient space for any good that is to come, to redress it. Just as the seasons change from the unwanted to the welcome through time, life creates the opportunity to experience the same. Robert H. Schuller, an American clergyman once remarked: “Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.”
A purposeful life, is a life lived to the best of one’s ability. It has focus, it has meaning, it is a future that we need to concentrate on. It could provide an abundant harvest of rewards if the seeds are sown correctly. Not on barren or withered soil, but on fertile land. The present and the past have their rightful places, for that is a necessity in the world of God. We can learn from its mistakes, we can benefit from its achievements. However, the future is what is coming, not the present, nor the past.
The decisions mankind makes today, if applied with wisdom, can make a life worth living tomorrow. James 4:13-17 reminds us: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
Life is what it is. Little can be done to reform it without God’s help. Nostalgia may be comforting for some in certain respects and at certain times during personal periods of reflection, but a wise person trusts in God’s sovereignty. They discern that there is little benefit in dwelling in the past or continually complaining about the present. A bright future is what’s needed.
We should accept the present for its merit with gratitude, but look to the future with purpose. We can’t change the past no matter how hard we try. The past is history which does not allow for change, no matter how much thought or effort is exerted. Ecclesiastes 7:10-14 reminds us: “Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.”
Amen.
