In case anyone has forgotten, this weekend we all turn our clocks back one hour as part of the "Spring Forward, Fall Back" ritual that occurs twice a year.
I, for one, always look forward to that extra hour of sleep that I'm able to get this time of year. And with working full-time, taking two seminary classes, and trying to be a good husband who spends quality time with his wife...I definitely could use that extra hour!
This morning on my drive down to PTS for class, I was also thinking about this in a theological context...no doubt influenced by early mid-life. As I look back on my life, I think about how many times I wished I had the power to turn the clock back on just one hour of my life. I think about how many times I've given Satan the upper hand and ended up causing a great deal of harm. I think of how many bad choices I've made that still affect my life today. I think about different directions I wish I would have taken in certain areas of my professional life. Is it just me, or do some of you wish we really could turn the clocks back on certain episodes in our lives?
So I was thinking about all this on my drive this morning down to the seminary. Interestingly though, after class as I was driving home, this particular, oft-quoted verse came to mind: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, I believe that meditating on the past has its uses: it helps us learn from our mistakes, it reminds us of God's faithfulness in past events, and it reconnects us with others who have inspired us on our journeys. Sometimes it is a good thing to "fall back."
But when "falling back" causes us to revisit old hurts, to punish ourselves or others for sins and mistakes long gone...then it is definitely time to remember the Gospel message of grace and spring forward in the bold belief that we worship a God who can make all things new.
So while we may be winding our clocks backward this weekend, let's remember to press onward in the amazing grace of Jesus Christ!
3 comments:
Thanx for the good post...but sometimes it is not we who will not let go of the past, it is the past that won't let go of us!
Your post reminds me of the Rich Mullins song, "If I Stand," the chorus of which includes these lyrics:
"So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You"
In other words, no matter whether we are "falling back" to our memories of the past or "springing forward" into a visionary future, let's make certain that we are always standing or falling upon the grace relationship that God makes possible.
Thanks for seeing a great spiritual metaphor in an often-overlooked routine.
Thought-provoking, Jeff. It calls to mind a sermon that Bishop Kim used to preach (one of 3 - most of us could tell you what they are as we heard them all on more than one occasion!) called "Roots and Wings". The roots are those things in our past that ground us and give us a foundation (the 'fall back'), while wings are the things that give us the freedom to soar and look ahead to the future ('spring forward' in keeping with your analogy). I like your assessment.
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