I spent a little time this morning reading that “the good old days” were fresh and clean and innocent. The old days were unlike the era in which we live, an era in which war on prayer and decency and decorum threatens the religious foundations upon which humanity was built. I found in myself a growing contempt for the thought process that allowed the writer of the piece to reach those conclusions.
Though I occasionally find myself longing for less complicated times, I realize progress takes its toll on discernment. Today differs from yesterday in ways both positive and negative; focusing on either end of the spectrum tends to shape one’s perspective as either a pollyanna or a pessimist. I wonder whether the passing of time naturally breeds bitterness, engendering unfavorable comparisons between today and times gone by?
All right, I’ll slip out of that little condemnatory mood and try something else on for size. If humans could reverse the aging process in some fashion that would allow very old people to spend the rest of their lives getting younger and younger, knowing their lives will end only upon entering the womb, but maintaining the knowledge and wisdom they accrued from birth through old age, attitudes would change radically. At least I think so. I’m willing to give it a try.
