Is Hindsight 20/20 ?
This past season was wringing with nostalgia and thoughts of Christmas past. Family members were gathering in search of the perfect Christmas. I experienced a glimpse of this when our adult children wanted to be sure that mom had prepared all their favorite foods (including escargot and Coquilles Saint-Jacques), that the tree was decorated with familiar ornaments (some of them had been handcrafted when they were children!), and that all 22 of “the stockings were hung by the chimney with care!”
Next Sleepover Ready! |
The grandkids had their expectations too! Was the foosball
table in the basement uncovered and ready for action like always? Would the
recreational equipment be in its place in the canvas storage bins? And yes, it
was warm enough this year on Christmas Eve for a little outdoor football game! Others
were hoping that their latest school and family pictures were on the
refrigerator. Some looked around to see if the peanut brittle, candy canes, small
chocolate bars, and other seasonal candy were in their proper places. Their parents
with darting glances offered some caution, “Don’t eat too much candy or you
won’t be hungry for the meal!”
As I walked down the hallway, I also saw a little
nostalgia on the face of our eldest grandson (a college freshman!) and his eleven-year-old
sister. They had turned toward the boys’ bedroom where several grands have
slept in the same bunk beds as their parents did years before. I imagined the
brother reflecting to his sister and saying, “That’s the bed I slept in! Those
are my little die cast cars and Tinker Toys in the closet. Everything’s the
same!”
I don’t know if those were the words spoken or even if
those were the thoughts in that moment. I do know that a lot of things in that
bedroom setting remain about as they were some ten to fifteen and even twenty
years ago! It’s the thing memories are built on! Just so you know, we’re not intentionally
running a museum around here! However, there is a lot of continuity and
sameness that has survived the past thirty-two years!
Those who know me know I like organization, predictability,
and everything in its place! It’s a burden to bear! Especially for those who must
live with me! But complain as they do about how boring I am, they know I can
lay my hands on things quickly! And so can they! Things are usually right where
they have always been!
There is an old saying or proverb that says,
“Hindsight is 20/20.” It’s an expression that means it is easy to understand
something after it has happened. This retrospective understanding can be one
aspect of the knowledge required to predict future experiences or events. But hindsight
is far from infallible! Our perceptions of what we think happened in the past may
not be accurate. We know what we know, but it may not line up with fact!
There is another thing that skews our hindsight.
Change! As much as I would like things to stay the same, they don’t! We know
that the process of advancing age affects everyone from children to youth and young
adults and certainly affects seniors! These are the necessary pathways, chapters,
or stages of life. This journey we are on impacts our perceptions, expectations,
and any predictions we have about the future.
A memorable prayer-song ascribed to Moses says, “Teach
us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12,
NLT). We are about to turn the page to another calendar year. This would
be a good time for us to ask God for wisdom as we consider our days in light of
God’s ways. Our finite and fleeting life is a gift from the infinite and
omniscient God. I love the past, but I can’t live in it. I must embrace the
future with all its unknown elements and uncertainties. I cannot see things with
20/20 spiritual vision, but I can trust and have faith in the One who not only knows
my future, but He is walking with me each day into it.
The old Ira F. Stanphill hymn, that’s been refreshed
by several of today’s gospel artists, still encourages me: “I don’t know about
tomorrow, I just live from day to day. I don’t borrow from its sunshine, for
its skies may turn to gray. I don’t worry o’er the future, for I know what
Jesus said, and today I’ll walk beside him, for he knows what is ahead. Many
things about tomorrow, I don’t seem to understand; but I know who holds
tomorrow, and I know He holds my hand!”
Let’s pause to reflect as we stand on the threshold of
2024. I am praying that God will continue to hold our hands as we walk by His
grace each day before us. May you have a blessed and Happy New Year!
Mike Keppler, retired pastor,
Comments
Post a Comment