Nooma 017|Today"How much time and energy do we spend wishing things were how they used to be? We often think about times in our past when things were different and want our lives to be like that again. Some of us have even come to believe that our best days may actually be behind us. But if we're in some way hung up on the past, what does that mean for our lives now? How are we and those around us affected if we're not fully present? If we're longing for the way things used to be, what does that really say about our understanding and appreciation of our lives today? Maybe we need to learn to embrace our past for what it is, in order to live our lives to the fullest, right here, right now." NOOMAtube
today (nooma)
There's a commercial on TV right now that sums up this idea that Rob is talking about pretty well. A father is sitting on the couch reading the paper and his 8 year daughter rolls down and asks if she can borrow the car to go to a movie. The dad finds out that there will be boys there and after bantering back and forth he caves and the shot cuts back to his daughter who is actually 17 or so. In his eyes she is still his baby. The end of the commercial is the best when an even younger looking daughter walks out the door and the dad asks here where she is going. Smugly she responds and says, "work." It's a great commercial that we can all relate to. Often I find myself clinging to memories of the past. We get together with college friends and reminisce about the crazy times we had living in the freshman dorms on Freshman Hill. We go on for hours just looking back at the good 'ol days. But we need to be able to let go of those memories.
None of us are the same person that we were back in '04/'05. We've all grown up and moved on in our lives. Some of us are married, some have jobs, and some are having kids. I love these times when we can look back at the way things were but we can't have "Uncle Rico syndrome." If you recall in Napolean Dynamite, Napolean's Uncle Rico was guilty of holding onto the past and wishing that he could go back and quarterback the team to a state championship. Uncle Rico was living his life wishing he could go back and alter the past knowing what he knows now. We know that this is not a possibility and if we continue to hold on to these things we are doing a disservice to our present and those that are presently in our life. Rob put it very well in the video when he said, "When we are still holding on to the way things were, our arms aren't free to embrace today." God has a plan for us that is taken place in the present and if we are stuck in the past we cannot fully devote ourselves to his plan.
Don't get me wrong, enjoy your past. Smile, laugh and cry when looking back on the past but realize that you have a role to play in the present. "May you accept the past for what it is. May you celebrate what needs to be celebrated and grieve what needs to be grieved, and then may you receive from God a new spirit, one from here, now, today." Rob Bell
None of us are the same person that we were back in '04/'05. We've all grown up and moved on in our lives. Some of us are married, some have jobs, and some are having kids. I love these times when we can look back at the way things were but we can't have "Uncle Rico syndrome." If you recall in Napolean Dynamite, Napolean's Uncle Rico was guilty of holding onto the past and wishing that he could go back and quarterback the team to a state championship. Uncle Rico was living his life wishing he could go back and alter the past knowing what he knows now. We know that this is not a possibility and if we continue to hold on to these things we are doing a disservice to our present and those that are presently in our life. Rob put it very well in the video when he said, "When we are still holding on to the way things were, our arms aren't free to embrace today." God has a plan for us that is taken place in the present and if we are stuck in the past we cannot fully devote ourselves to his plan.
Don't get me wrong, enjoy your past. Smile, laugh and cry when looking back on the past but realize that you have a role to play in the present. "May you accept the past for what it is. May you celebrate what needs to be celebrated and grieve what needs to be grieved, and then may you receive from God a new spirit, one from here, now, today." Rob Bell
there are so many instances in our lives that we can look back on and wish things were different...for example, concerning Christianity. i've talked to plenty of people who became Christians toward the end of their high school experiences, or even after that for some...and those people always say the same thing...which is something along the lines of, "man, i wish i had known Christ earlier...then i wouldn't have done all of those stupid things in my life." ....etc.
ReplyDeletelikewise, even those of us who have been Christians for most of our lives...we keep discovering these new, profound truths...and often upon that very discovery, conclude that life would have been so much easier thus far if we had previously known this same truth.
but i am a firm believer in everything happening at it's specific time for a specific reason.
because when it all comes down to it, our hearts aren't automatically prepared for everything that could possibly come our way.
i learned of and gained new insight on a specific truth a week or two ago...but i know that had that same truth been presented to me three years prior, i wouldn't have known what to do with it...because my heart hadn't been prepared for that one yet.
it's all one big process.
and living in the past accomplishes nothing. sure, it can contain happy memories and beneficial lessons...so it's not to say that we should forget about those things...just not live in them.
we need to live IN the present, FOR the future...all in the name of Jesus Christ!