I
often wonder what is the attraction of TV Programmes like ITV’s Downton
Abbey and Alibi’s Murdoch Mysteries . ? Is it
Nostalgia for an earlier, seemingly more
innocent age ?, perhaps with all the upheaval that we both see around us and
read about that directly or indirectly affects our day to day lives, is living
in or thinking about the past some sort
of safety net?
I
enjoy listening to some classic 1980’s Music on the Absolute 80's radio station and
I've been listening to some great and
not so great songs from my younger days ! but I wouldn’t choose to travel back
in time, like some Welsh version of Dr Who and try to live in those days. I grew up in a small village in the South
Wales Valleys called Melin Court, and spend time not only there but in other
villages like Resolven and Clyne. Overall when I wear my rose tinted glasses I
enjoyed my time growing up there, but if I could ask my teenage self the same
question what would the answer be?
I
enjoy music, and did Cse Music in School, (I also played Chess on one of the
School Chess Teams) I had the opportunity to visit the world famous Cavern Club
in Liverpool , it’s one of the places the Beatles played, it was packed and
overall I enjoyed my time there, there was a live band playing cover versions
of songs by The Beatles and The Who. The atmosphere was electric, but one thing
struck me, here’s a young band not playing their own songs but playing the
songs of a previous generation!
My
time at The Cavern Club lead me to think about why we sometimes try to live in
the past, we let the circumstances of
our past, the influence of others,
past hurts, past disappointments,
feelings of hurt and sometimes bitterness govern our lives. We let the
things that happened 5, 10, 15 or even 20 plus years influence how we live
today, perhaps the hurt of a breakdown of a relationship that has happened in
the past we don’t allow ourselves due to the fear of rejection or the fear of a
failure to move on to a better relationship. Sometimes we try to eat the fruit
of past blessings, happiness, success which like all fruit that was picked and
not eaten, has become rotten, instead of picking and eating the new fruit for
today.
The
Prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 43:18-19b, NivUk
“18
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it
springs up; do you not perceive it?”
It’s
easy to try to live in the past, but God calls us to move on and move forward
to both bigger and better things.
The
Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2:13-14NivUk
“
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one
thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, 14 I press on towards the goal to win the
prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.”
So
let us turn away from our past, because it’s a new beginning, a new start and a
new season for us all.
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