Spring is here in all of its blessed majesty and glory. Feeling the no-winter jacket weather outside these last few days made me think of other days with similar warmth.
It reminded me of being younger than I am now and the early days of summer after a long school year.
It made me think about how many of those experiences I’d like to revisit over these next few months.
This could include casting my line into the water (I can’t call it “fishing” when I don’t catch anything. I don’t think I’ve caught anything that could be considered a fish since 2015), going camping or hiking, being outside with my headphones in my ears and listening to tunes, spontaneously getting ice cream, and being near a fire (Why do we have more fires during the summer months anyway?).
As much as I want to embrace the similar feelings this weather creates with those of the past, I need to face a reality — those days and times are actually quite gone forever.
Where are we?
Someone wiser than I once said something to the effect of “What’s learned first is learned best”.
Our earliest memories, as many as we can remember, are going to be filled with many things that are learned best.
How I embrace all of the seasons will bring me back to my single-digit-aged years.
Rooting for my favorite sports teams always comes with a hint of reminiscing about earlier days.
Even saying and thinking things like “hanging up” or “dialing” the phone makes most (er, some?) of us remember using those devices for the first time.
But alas, much like using our phones has a massively different meaning and connotation now as compared to then, so do many other things.
No one who has ever lived has ever been able to stop the reality that things change.
As we get older, they change more.
This is where I’ll get dogged for being “young,” yet, but a lot of things do change in almost . . . a certain exact decade amount . . . of years.
Being smack dab in the middle of the communications industry makes me a little confused every day — the technology has changed, the terms and concepts have changed, and the way people communicate overall has changed.
I guess I have two options: Roll with the changes or realize it’s time for me to fly away from modern society. If I’m lucky, maybe I could try to keep pushin’ everyone to see things my way and go backward a little, but eventually, I’ll realize I can’t fight that feeling anymore.
Where we are
It’s so easy to get lost as we realize things are not what they used to be. We’ve moved forward into some uncertain time, whether we like it or not.
As a Catholic, taking a current glimpse at the world around us can bring on anxiety.
Understanding gender is out of control. The pro-choice movement has days where it appears to be gaining momentum. Anyone living out their Catholic or Christian faith is openly criticized for doing so.
I bet we could all come up with a list of a dozen things that aren’t “like they used to be” and only seem to be getting worse.
Every generation thinks this, but is it true? There are probably a lot of young people now, of all youthful ages, having the times of their lives, but, as we know, it’s only a matter of time before time passes them and they start to wonder what is happening to the world around them.
Now what?
I don’t want to think that the world has just been going downhill, perhaps since the Fall in Eden, and getting worse ever since.
We have to have gotten better at some things.
I wish humanity was better at keeping the good going forward and leaving the bad stuff behind.
When things need to be better, whether in the Church or in the greater world, that doesn’t mean that everything that came before is bad. It also doesn’t mean that everything has been perfect and nothing should be changed or reformed going forward.
Imagine whatever issues you want related to what I just described. I’m not going to start any arguments here.
As we go forward this spring, this year, this decade, and through everything else, let’s be OK with where we are at in time.
If nothing else, we’re all going to die anyway, but more positively, God always wants us to grow.
We are to grow in our love for Him and for others.
Go for a walk. It’s nice out. Be happy where you came from and where you are going.
Also, don’t settle for a world that’s less than perfect. Make it better.
Thank you for reading.
I’m praying for you.