Some Things Never Change

It's easy to get lost in the reverie of yesteryear. Everything flies at us these days at breakneck speed, and before we're anywhere near processing it, it's already old news, as in way old news.

Recently, I was looking at some snapshots going back to the 1970s. A couple were of my uncle. He was standing at the counter of Jim's Finer Foods, a neighborhood delicatessen he owned and operated with his mom on Chicago's South Side. Looking out through the front screen door of this neighborhood institution, I could see the familiar Phillips 66 gas station across the street, a few trees, and a couple passersby.

Suffice it to say, that Chicago neighborhood has undergone some changes. Like my relatives and the gas station, the store is long since gone -- leveled to make way for a two-story apartment building that is also showing its age and decay. Fifty years is a lot of water over the dam when it comes to 20th-century changes. Fifty years ago, the Vietnam War was winding down; there was a national energy crisis here (so what's new?); Saddam Hussein was gaining power in Iraq; an earthquake in Guatemala and Honduras killed 22, 000 people; and people were buying brand-new AMC Gremlins.

And 50 years from now, who knows what we're capable of -- polar ice cap condominiums? The majority of cancers wiped out with childhood vaccinations? A continent-wide water system that provides fresh H2O to every nation in Africa? You can come up with your own scenario.

The forces at work in the world often seem beyond our control. We read the headlines and what we see is too kooky to be real, too disjointed and chaotic. But then we have to pull back and remember: through it all, the Good News of Jesus continues to go forth and, even amidst the chaos, is changing lives by transforming hearts.

It's good to know that (thanks be to God) some things never change.

What do you miss from yesteryear? Is the current age with its conveniences and technology always to be preferred over times gone by?

You can let us know by clicking here and telling us about it.