Don’t wallow in the past
David Jones on how we can learn from our memories, but dwelling on them is less helpful
THE chapel vestry where I went to Sunday school was a hive of activity in my childhood but by now had become in need of quite a bit of TLC.
So, a few days ago, along with some friends, we got together to sort it out. And it was quite a task. The stage on which we had performed so many times had become a treasure trove of memories.
The toddler chairs on which we sat listening intently to Bible stories were ravaged with woodworm and had to go. Dusty old Band of Hope banners which had been paraded around the town displaying the virtues of temperance were now certainly museum pieces.
Old photos of stern looking deacons who I’m sure were never allowed to smile had been unceremoniously shoved into a corner.
Discarded chapel reports made interesting reading – Bethel Baptist Chapel Llanelli had 670 members in the 1950s and more than 800 in the 1930s – where have they all gone, we lamented.
At one point there were howls of laughter with the discovery of a photo with me as a lowly woodcutter in one of the Band of Hope operettas which were the high spot of the year. I did remember it – an 11-yearold totally peeved that I had not been chosen for the male lead which was always a sort of Prince Charming character – told by the girls that my best friend was much more deserving of the part because he was far better looking!
This weekend we’ll all get the chance to turn the clocks back, as British Summer Time comes to an end. For me, it’s a reminder that we are so often conditioned at different times of our lives. The Bible says that there’s a ‘time’ for every purpose, with even more emphasis on the Christian virtues of loving our neighbour and doing good in the time we are given.
Some harmless nostalgia and even dwelling on memories, good or bad can help us to learn from the past. But to wallow there and allow any regrets or wrong decision to burden us in the here and now is certainly not God’s will for our lives.
Sorting through that chapel vestry was a real trip down memory lane, but it brought to mind the words of American inventor Charles Kettering, who said ‘You can’t have a better tomorrow if you’re thinking about the past all the time.’ That sounds like good advice to me, so I’ll be holding onto that as I turn the clocks back this weekend.