Brush Arbors and Better Days

The good ol’ days…

Those words conjure up the 60s TV series The Andy Griffith Show. The setting of Mayberry was a quiet, small town with a slow pace. Andy Griffith sat on a porch, strumming a guitar on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

We long for those “good ol’ days.”

In my first church, in Central Texas, where heat scorches while the mosquitoes feed on the miserable, one of the old-timers would start down the road of “good ol’ days.”

“I remember when we had a two-week gospel meeting under the brush arbor in July. It was great.” He left out the heat, bugs, and sweat running down your neck. He remembered the sense of elation and community. That is what the good ol’ days represented to him.

Solomon, pondering his life, said:

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. (Ecclesiastes 7:10)

In short, quit saying “the good ol’ days.”

Churchill wrote histories of the English people. He venerated tradition but ridiculed convention. He refused to make the past a prison.

Nostalgia can drive a warped sense of life. We don’t live in the good ol’ days. We’ll be someone’s “good ol’ days” one day.

Remember, the man with no past is an orphan, but the man stuck in the past has no future either.

The Old Testament doesn’t just record the past. It carries it forward. Moses reminded Israel of God’s help during their journey. Joshua, while rehearsing history, challenged the people to choose their future. David extolled it in the Psalms, singing, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever.”

In my 70s, I remember my past fondly, but grateful for the present I now have. The good was good, but the future looks bright.

Moses’ voice echoes in my soul:

So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12, ESV)

Don’t live in what once was. Live in what’s left, and in what’s happening right now.

So take stock. Number your days — not with dread, but with the wisdom Moses prayed for. Look at today and be grateful for it, because today is the only day you actually have.

Quit saying “the good ol’ days.” Instead, ask the better question: What blessing does God have in store for me today?