July 2007

Dear friends,
    
   What a wonderful vacation my family and I had last month!  We were able to attend a family reunion on Marcia's side of the family, and I was able to spend some time "back home" as well. 
   But you know, things just looked and felt different.  Let me give you a run-down. 
   The bakery changed hands again.  They're replacing the bridge over the river (well, I don't think there was anything wrong with the old one).  The hardware store is gong - now it's a tanning parlor.  The shoe store is gone; they're selling antiques now.  The old guy who used to make the pizza at the pizza shop isn't there.  I guess we won't be going there for pizza anymore.  And the price of a cup of coffee at the truck stop restaurant is now 95 cents.  It seems like it wasn't too long ago when it was a quarter.  Oh, and the Dunkin Donuts?  It's a Starbucks!  Such is life in Tioga County!
   And the price of gas!  It seems that everything is more expensive!  But the people keep paying. 
   Where's the hometown of my childhood memories?  What happened to the place in my past where neighbors knew each other and total strangers were trusted - unless, of course, they looked suspicious (or came from out of state)?  Why can't I go back there?  
   What I thought would be a time to reconnect to my fondest memories on my vacation became a time of re-learning!  While my memories remained as static recollections, the people and placed I've held dear changed. 
   You see, in my mind, I've frozen the past - my friends and family never aged these 10-20 years.  The town remained constant.  My school stayed the same.  My church stayed the same.  The world I left so long ago became, to me, a snapshot.  And as soon as I placed that snapshot in my mind, I ceased to engage the "real world" that my family and hometown continued to face. 
   And that's where it hit me.  I've changed too!  I wanted to go back to a place that I hoped hadn't changed (at least, not much).  But I couldn't find that place any longer.  I had to face it - I couldn't really go back.  And even if I could - even if I could somehow travel back in time - would I have to give up the last 10-20 years of growth, maturity, and life experience?  Just to relive a memory? 
   The real shock was in seeing seeing the changes that happened.  Some good.  Some not so good.  Some remain to be seen.  Friends, the "real world" changes.  And it changes fast.  Think back over your memories of the last 10-20 years.  What changes have you seen in this world?  In this church?  In your family?  In yourself?
   Our God never changes.  But we do.  We were created that way.  None of us can relive - or recreate - the past.  The past is the past.  God has given us today and, until Jesus returns or until we are called Home, we have the opportunity to fully live and enjoy the blessings - and challenges - of the "real world" in which we find ourselves.  (John 10:10)  We live not by comparing the present day to whatever gilded age we claim, but through finding our true hope and true home in our Savior! 
   It's good to look back.  But we live in the present.  And that's where our work together is found. 
   Marcia and I wish you a blessed summer, 
   Pastor Jon