A look back …

There is a line from "A Death in the Family" by James Agee that says: "How far we all come. How far we all come away from ourselves. You can never go home again."

While visiting my home town to take care of some family business on behalf of my aged mother, I visited some significant places from my childhood. So much has changed in the small college town, and yet so much has stayed the same. The court-house square is ringed with the same buildings, but most are now occupied by different businesses and enterprises; the college campus is much larger and the elementary school, where I entered the first grade, has been replaced with a larger, more modern structure. A bank now occupies the spot where the high school used to be.

But, many things are still the same. The slower pace of life and the rural feel and charm remains in the small southern town that just seems to go right on without "boom or bust." It is a place that is home to folks who seem to be content with their situation as it is.

It was surprising to see how small the home I grew up in now seems, fifty years downstream. It was so big when I lived there with the four other kids in the family, doing the chores and playing in the yard. But, now it appears really small and outdated by today's standards.

The trees around the old home are huge, but I remember when we planted them as seedlings. Pretty amazing what the years can do. It's home, and yet, it's not. Some of my childhood friends have lived their whole lives in this little town, but most of my contemporaries moved away to pursue their education, to look for opportunity and establish careers in their chosen fields. Most of them, like me, have never returned except for brief visits. Such visits stir some feelings of nostalgia and fond memories, and yet the author Agee was right, "You can never go home again." You see, for all of us, the scene changes. Nothing remains the same. Life's circumstances and experiences mold us and often dictate where we are and what we are doing.

Long ago, Solomon, the wise king of Israel, wrote,

"The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all"
(Ecclesiastes 9:11)

Many, maybe most, people are adrift and do not really have a plan for their lives, other than to earn a living and to enjoy their days. Certainly these are laudable and worthwhile goals, but without a higher, transcendental purpose, a person can find himself in a rut, stagnant and discouraged.

It is true, "You can never go home." One's circumstances of old have changed forever. But, you can grow and achieve much in this physical life, while pressing forward toward a great reward in the Kingdom of God. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul wrote: "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14).

If you are looking back with a nostalgic glance at where you have been, let me urge you to instead look forward to the wonderful world ahead. Those people who accept the message of the Bible, and who overcome to the end, will have a significant role in the coming Kingdom of God on earth.

If you would like to know more about this great plan, we offer you a free copy of our booklet, Your Ultimate Destiny. You can order it directly from this website. Also be sure to check out the Tomorrow's World article, "Old Can Be Good," today.