Dec
31
Written by:
Gary Blakeman
12/31/2009 9:05 AM
Good Morning;
Today is the last day of 2009 and the last day of the first decade of the 21st Century. There has been lots of discussion about not only the past year but the past decade, what has been the biggest story? One could argue for many answers, Enron, 9/11, Iraq, the dot-com bubble, Bernard Madoff, or housing bubble and the near economic meltdown of 2009. The last decade has taken us through many challenging times. My questions is this, “Should we forget about the past?” This came to mind as that familiar song came across the airwaves, “Auld Lang Syne”, which translated means “old long since”, “long, long ago” or “days gone by”. The part of the song we are most familiar with opens with two questions, “Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old Acquaintance be forgot, and days of auld lang syne?” Should we forget the past? Forget it no, let go of it yes! There is much truth in the old saying, “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.” And close to that is, those who do not let go of the past die with it. We must never forget our financial mistakes that lead to Enron, Bernard Madoff, and the economic bubbles we built through unsound economic practices public, private and corporate. And we must not forget there are evils in the world that have to be taken seriously both foreign and domestic. We must not forget but we must not dwell on them and let them dominate our lives causing us to live our lives in fear and slavery rather than in courage and freedom. There are several verses to this familiar song that hardly ever get sang. I particularly like the last verse that goes, “And there’s a hand my trusty friend! And give us a hand o’ thine! And we’ll take a right good-will draught, for auld lang syne.” I was always taught as a child when I crossed the street to hold hands. The “street” is a good metaphor for transition. When you cross the street you leave the safety of one curb, venture out into chaos (traffic) in order to make it to a another curb a new destination. Transitions are dangerous and scary times. As we transition and make our way into the New Year may we take the advice of this strange song and offer our hands to each other. So grab hold of those you love and walk confidently into 2010.
Pastor Gary
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