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Going somewhere, anywhere, seems to be all the rage.
We are the most mobile society to date.
No culture has taken to roaming the globe more than we.
So, if we are all about looking ahead, moving forward, and delving into the “latest,” why bother with the rearview mirror?
We’ll get to that in a moment, but first this possibly prophetic word about tomorrow.
To be forward thinking is a key ingredient to any successful business, church or family.
It’s critically important for us to be aware of what is happening in technological developments, business trends, and yes, even the methodologies being used in the church.
Bruce Barton said it well: “When you are through changing, you are through.”
So, I understand that change is inevitable. It happens.
But we should never sacrifice lessons learned from the past in our attempt to advance into relevancy.
Taking care of today prepares us for tomorrow.
To dream, to envision tomorrow is, more often than not, the stuff of motivation, and that’s as it should be.
The caution comes when we begin to mirror the warped views of men like Seward when he suggests that, “the circumstances of the world are so variable that an irrevocable purpose or opinion is almost synonymous with a foolish one.”
That sort of thinking also suggests that moral absolutes are a thing of the past.
We are in the 21st century, and the thinking man must rethink every issue, reinterpret past values in light of present realities.
For us to be so intoxicated about tomorrow can do more damage than good when we fail to maintain our emotional, psychological and spiritual balance.
That brings me to the rearview mirror.
There are some inherent benefits to taking a periodic glance in the rearview mirror. On life’s journey, you occasionally need to change lanes.
A quick look at where you’ve been can keep you from getting run over.
Some years ago a manager of a growing business realized he needed to update his office equipment.
Everything from copiers to filing systems and computers needed a face-lift if he was going to stay on the cutting edge.
After visiting a friend in another state and seeing the efficient way his office staff was able to handle the day-to-day affairs, he was itching to get back home and make the necessary changes.
While preparing to head out to the one-stop-get-all place, he remembered a similar incident a couple of years earlier.
In his eagerness to be up to date on everything, a thoughtless choice cost his company a valuable contract.
Taking such a costly hit in the past served as a reminder of the importance of being deliberate and calculated in all his business decisions.
So he wisely hired a business consultant to help him evaluate his needs in relation to his goals.
The initial investment actually saved money in the long run, making that glance into the past a wise one.
“The past is our definition. We may strive, with good reason, to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it, but we will escape it only by adding something better to it.” An astute old writer from Kentucky named Wendell Berry made that novel observation.
As we peer into 2010, the anticipation for what’s ahead can be like the curiosity that killed the cat — deadly.
Purposeful decision-making tends to bring clarity to one’s life in a way that impulsive behavior never could.
Being intentional incorporates the occasional backwards glance with stealth regularity.
Someone has rightly said that “if we fail to learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it.”
That said, permission to peruse the past is granted.
Just don’t get stuck in it. Look too long, and certain dangers ahead become unavoidable. While driving on an interstate recently, I caught myself repeatedly glancing in my mirror to see an accident I had just passed.
It almost caused me to have an accident.
One of the few things astronomer and secular humanist Carl Sagan got right, in my opinion, was when he said, “You have to know the past to understand the present.”
So, if you have been prone to try and ignore the past, take a quick look.
If you are stuck in the past, forget the rearview mirror. Move forward, and keep the mind churning until you until you catch up.
All in all, don’t be afraid to take a look from time to time in your rearview mirror.
It might just be pleasantly surprised at what you can learn.
Randy Sheridan of Burleson is a speaker, counselor and mediator. He can be reached at drsheridan@aol.com.
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