Many kinds
June 1, 2012 (Friday)
Recently on TV I saw two back-to-back programs (30-minute advertisements) from Time-Life Music. One was about Country Love Songs and the other was, “The Teen Years,” love songs from the early days of Rock. Both featured snippets of hundreds of songs from the past. They brought back memories. Of course, I remembered the Country songs because they were all popular in my day. The Rock and Roll songs, however, surprised me. The performers were all dressed in coats and ties and beautiful dresses. The songs seem so harmless now. I’m wondering why I worried about my kids wanting to listen to such music. Oh, well, live and learn. Those were the early days of Rock and Roll, but as time went on it changed for the worse, it seemed to me, and parents had good reason to be concerned about the stuff that appealed to their kids.
Memories are fantastic. Hearing a song brings them back. A certain tune causes visions in our minds and places us in a certain room or on a seashore. Aromas and odors do the same thing. Our minds are wonderful and amazing. Have you ever thanked the Lord for his marvelous design that includes our being able to remember things from the past?
On the other hand, there’s a past we would like to forget: horrible sights we have seen, sad experiences we have had, terrible encounters that left us scarred–emotionally, and maybe even physically, mistakes we have made and sins we have committed. I’m reminded of Paul’s words, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14 NIV). Paul was actually thinking about his successes when he wrote those words, but we know they can be applied both ways for ourselves.
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(P.S. – Please don’t miss the second blog from yesterday)