the way we never were

Monday October 1^st, Numbers 11: ⁴ The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! ⁵ We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. ⁶ But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"  One of the better books I have read is “The Way We Never Were” by Stephanie Coontz (http://www.stephaniecoontz.com/).  It outlines various family structures in History and dispels many of the myths of our selective memory that tends to remember only one side of the equation and not the other. We might long for the good old days of Ozzie and Harriet and forget that in order to maintain that economic structure, vast parts of society lived in deep poverty and racism was rampant.  Here too, the Israelites remembered the leeks and onions and fish and forgot the slavery, death, and hopelessness that was the other part of the equation.  Beware of the “Good Old Days” if that is indeed what they were because along with them came the bad old days for someone else whose meagerly lifestyle allowed your good old days to exist. In churches especially, remembering the good old days is a way of locking in the hymns and worship styles of yore and locking out the next generation we lament not having in our midst.  Looking forward glorifies God.  It is full of possibilities and hope.  Looking back tends to glorify only the self that is satisfied with selective memory.  So if you must look back, do so to grasp just a hint of all the blessings God has given you, and then look to tomorrow and watch for God’s blessings to be manifest in new and glorious ways.