RBC

We’ve all been there. We want to hear the stories of when our grandparents were young- what life was like, what they did for entertainment, etc… The stories we heard were sometimes unbelievable and many times left us longing for simpler times. My boys are fortunate enough to have a great grandfather who is still alive that fought in World War II, while also having a grandfather alive who was in Vietnam. I tell my boys to ask questions and soak in as many stories as they can get while they have this opportunity. In 1986, country music mother/daughter team, The Judds, released the song Grandpa. This is a song about a granddaughter asking her grandfather what it was like when he was growing up. It opens up with these lyrics:

Grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days

Sometimes it feels like this world’s gone crazy

And Grandpa, take me back to yesterday

When the line between right and wrong

Didn’t seem so hazy

Grandpa, by the Judds

It was told from the perspective that the young girl couldn’t imagine a world where things were that simple and people were that amicable with each other. The setting of this song has a very eerily familiar feel to it, one that I often wonder if we will be repeating with our grandchildren someday.

As, I scrolled through social media this morning to get my daily dose of vitriol being spewed at everybody, it had me longing for “the good ol’ days.” Now, don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things that happened in the past that need to be changed or addressed and let me be the first person to say, I hate change. I love predictability. I love knowing what to expect. But, change is both necessary and unavoidable, so I might as well embrace the process and at least make changes for the better. There is, however, a longing for “simpler times.” One of the things I love about where I live is I get that far more than I used to. We are a small town and Columbia is far enough away to where it’s just inconvenient enough to go on a whim. Because of this, we get to slow down quite a bit. It’s wonderful. I think we could all use that.

I often wonder, what made us need to speed up in the first place? Was it a pursuit for more money or something else; and in the end, has it been worth it? We can blame all sorts of things for that need, but ultimately, isn’t it our own conscious decision? I often wonder what would happen if we just collectively said no. What if we took stock and reprioritized life. I often wonder if people would go back to being neighbors (you know that whole love your neighbor thing- I’m positive God meant that).

When I get this nostalgia (and if you know me, I am big into nostalgia), I can’t help but think about the story of the good samaritan. I dare say that most people know the story. If you don’t you can find it in Luke 10:25-37. The thing I love about this story is the fact that the man who was robbed and beaten was most likely a Jewish man considering the route where he was attacked. Samaritans and Jews did not get along. In fact they didn’t care for each other at all. The Samaritan didn’t care who the guy was, where he was from, or what he believed. The Samaritan saw a person in need and he helped that person to the best of his ability. He took care of his neighbor.

We come from different backgrounds. We are Republicans or Democrats, we are pro-life & pro-choice, we advocate for masks and vaccines and we are protective of freedom. We come from different background and cultures and we hold different beliefs. But you know what else we are? We are created in the image of God. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We ALL have value- no exception. We are children of a creator that loves us and has asked us to love each other. We are the crown jewel in the creation of a loving father. We are neighbors. If my neighbor’s house is on fire, I don’t care who they voted for or what their stance is on the wage gap, I’m going to help put out the fire. I often fear that we have reached a place where that isn’t the case. I sit here nostalgic for a simpler time. Where neighbors were neighbors first and everything else was secondary in the scheme of life. Lets go back to being neighbors- back to the good ol’ days.

In Christ Alone,

Rev. Bro. Coach