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Sometimes I get an idea for a column in an email. Today I got an idea from two seemingly different emails. They may seem different but they really deal with the same idea of perspective. Rev. Angeica’s (revangelica@shaw.ca) Friday message explored the meaning of the phrase, “I’ll take care of your back.” When a soldier says that to a buddy in a battle he means “you look ahead and I will look behind you, protecting you from surprise attacks from the rear.” Life is always saying that to us: “You work on today, keep looking ahead, remain in the present and I will take care of the past.” To paraphrase a well-known verse from the bible, “Today is the day to find salvation from your problem.” You will never find salvation from any problem by looking at the past. There is a chance you will just get lost. The more time you spend there, the more disassociated you become from the realities of your life here and now. If you stay there long enough, there are two big dangers: (1) that you will sink down in the quicksand of despair or (2) you may actually get to liking it so well there that you will not be able to return to your life as it is. We can be so warped that we like familiar suffering better than possible pleasure. Like in George Jone’s biggest hit, “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” The poor old boy depicted so clearly in that song spent his entire life grasping the memory of an old love who decided to live her life without him. He loved that old memory so much that he could not let himself love some woman who might have given anything to belong to him. He loved that old ghost in his head so much he slept with it every night when he could have been sleeping with a warm, loving, giving, breathing, sighing woman who might have led him into a life of extreme bliss. Why would some close themselves off to extreme bliss and hang on to a worthless piece of a corpse buried down some lonesome dead end road in their mind? Only one reason: they have adopted the habit of living in the past so intently that they cannot see the glorious possibilities before their eyes at every moment of their life. It’s like a man locking himself in a dark closet of his home when he could be looking out his picture window at the colorful parade of people and pleasures. It’s like living your life in the damp, dark basement instead of feasting with wonderful people in your dining room. Tennessee’s cowboy poet, Bill McCallie sent me the other piece of this thing called perspective. A father sent his four sons to see a pear tree at the four seasons of the year. The one who went in winter described a dead scraggly bunch of limbs. The one who went in spring described buds and leaves turning green. The one sent in summer spoke of beautiful blossoms. The one sent in fall described fruit weighing down the limbs. They fussed among themselves over who was right but the father reminded them they were all right. If your life looks barren today, it’s just the season. You will be budding and blossoming and bearing fruit. Bless all the seasons of your life. While you are at it, bless your past. You wouldn’t be who you are today without every piece of it. The founder of Honda Motors said, “Success is 99 percent failure.” The prophet Hezekiah said, “Spiritual growth is nothing but working through problems and learning what worked for you.” God is watching your back (your past) for you. The good stuff has been assimilated into your soul growth. David said God has removed the bad stuff as far as the east is from the west. So leave it alone and move on. ~~~~ Order Dalton's book-azine Long John Cardinal (52 columns voted his best by his readers) for $4.95 at www.ipspress.com/publishing.htm or at www.daltonroberts.com.
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