I would rather have nostalgia than neuralgia, wouldn't you? Isn't it a shame that memories are so tenuous, so fleeting. We forget so easily. In some ways inability to recall is a blessing of liberation. To forget how you hurt when someone dumped you in a "puppy-love" or an even more serious relationship is gratifying. Time has not erased from my memory the excruciating pain in my throat when I was 10 years old. The white lesions in my throat signaled that I had contracted contagious diphtheria. The throat swabs confirmed that dreadful diagnosis. For the first time in my life I had to endure a scary separation from my petrified parents as an ambulance delivered me to the Elizabeth Donkin Isolation Hospital in Port Elizabeth. In the eight weeks that I was in the hospital, I was subjected to more than 100 injections but the pain of the pin is now lost in fading, dim recollection. My parents were only permitted to visit me by standing on the porch outside the ward and talking to me through an opening glass petition in the door. I have a fair appreciation of the isolation of outcast lepers in ancient Israel. Eventually coming home to be with mom, dad and my siblings was the next thing to heaven. I remember that! Nostalgia keeps that memory fresh as today's newspaper. What do you remember about your growing-up years? What would you like to forget?

 

Nostalgia is defined as "a wistful or excessively sentimental sometimes abnormal yearning for return to [or of] some past period or irrecoverable condition; homesickness." The age that I have reached now scares me. The only time that I was reasonably comfortable with that figure was when I saw it on my speedometer on a super highway. Benoni member Arthur Hunt gave me a "Miranda Rights" birthday card some years ago on the "fatal" day. It stated, "You have the right to remain silent about your age. If you don't have one, one will be supplied. Anything you say might be used against you." So how could I even think about covering up my age? The big seven zero--I never thought I would make that milestone. There has been so much water under the bridge, but the bridge is still there and the water still flows (by the grace of God). Life has moved at the speed of light (well, almost). Our family has spread to three different continents, but our recent 50th wedding anniversary brought about the most tender of family reunions. Now this new milestone in my life makes recall and reflection almost unavoidable. This is the reason for my trip down memory lane. Steve, our son in Fort Worth, sent me a Father's Day card some years ago depicting a little boy's hand clutching the forefinger of a daddy's hand in Michael Angelo style in the Vatican. Along with his personal internal message, the card declared, "Dad, I'll never let you go!". That card is still in my files. I'll never let him go either. I'll always hold him in my heart. In fact, our three precious daughters have a special place there, too! And the queen of my heart is their mom. And do you know what? All of you there at Benoni have a place there too. Wonderful family and friends are the gifts we give ourselves by the grace of God. Nostalgia can't be all bad. Right?

 

Are you homesick for heaven (Philippians 1:23)? After all, that is where you came from in the first place. Dying and going to heaven is just going home,

isn't it (Ecclesiastes 12:5)? Are you making your calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10-11)? Are you having memorable moments with your family that will live on in their hearts long after you have made your departure (cf. Ephesians 6:4)? We only live once (Hebrews 9:27). We are only passing through (Hebrews 11:13-16). "This world is not my home" as the song writer declared, remember? And when it comes to remembering Jesus, are we confining that activity only to the Lord's supper on the Lord's Day (Acts 20:7). Shame on us if we do. It is an everyday affair, remembering Jesus. It motivates us to remember who we are and what we stand for. Are we having memorable moments with our Master daily?  Are we privately praising Him with all our heart, soul and mind? Are we reaching out to the less fortunate who have also been made in God's image (Matthew 25:34-40)? Are we sharing the good news of the kingdom (Romans 1:16)? Time is running out but memories are the permanent snapshots of the heart. You can periodically peruse that heart-shaped album and marvel. Sometimes the ravages of advancing age obliterates from the memory banks the last vestiges of bygone days, but God never forgets us. When we are home with Him, we will remember and smile again. Nostalgia is a blessing that combines pleasure and pain. The pain instructs us; the pleasure soothes us. God is good and life in Christ is beautiful!

 

Love you all, 

 

Al - "The Horne of Africa".

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