Acts 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Peter De Vries, an American editor and novelist, wrote, “Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be”.
De Vries’ witty comment masks the reality that sentimentality can either be the prison warden, by which nostalgia incarcerates people in the solitary confinement of their memories, whether happy or sad; or that sentimentality can be a stumbling block to one’s future success.
Sentimentality is extremely self-indulgent by nature.
This emotional state of being can become a problem when excessively applied because there is a danger of one spending inordinate amounts of time, wallowing in self-pity, and being obsessively absorbed with one’s own woes, that one does not have time to help others.
Melancholy, in this case, becomes the partner in crime of sentimentality, robbing one of precious time, which should be spent in the present. It is never beneficial when one makes a companion out of this nostalgically driven, emotional self-indulgence. Human beings were never designed to function at any other point of time except in the present.
However, it is safe to say that most people encounter some sentimentality in their lives at some stage, even if they are not generally prone to this emotional state all the time. All of us have pondered over the “good old days”. Simply enjoying the memories of the good times one has experienced is healthy, especially when laughter is the result; and a positive mental strength is encouraged by the great memories which we discuss.
People, who become collectors of memorabilia, such as sports collectables; or those who collect historical items and antiques for the sake of business, are a very different kettle of fish to common sentimentalists. Their aim is business, and not emotionalism. Making money from things of the past is shrewd, some would say clever, because this practice reaps benefits from the sentimentality of others.
However, storing things from the past can add to the clutter in one’s life, not to mention one’s house. (Emotional baggage is worse than collecting junk, and far worse than overloading a computer hard drive, because this type of storage can prevent us from functioning normally in society; and damage relationships with family and friends).
Clutter always becomes a stumbling block, especially when one trips over the clutter, and when one is prevented by clutter from finding whatever one is “looking for” when one is in desperate need of the item. This is why it is a good exercise to get rid of clutter. Plus, there is always someone who is worse off than we are, someone who needs what we can’t use. Why not be a blessing – give away your surplus goods and you will be more blessed. Jesus said, “It is better to give than to receive”.
Nostalgia has the ability to freeze the frame our present responsibilities; and if we linger too long in the time capsule of our memories, we can become preoccupied with what “was”, so that we procrastinate to avoid the duties of what we should be doing today. As long as we long for what has passed, we will delay what we are supposed to do now. And, if we can’t deal with the present, how on Earth will we ever plan for the future.
For those who are prone to depression, the “luxury” of sentimentality is a “commodity” they cannot afford. People who wallow in the memories of what “was”, or what “could have been”, whether it was a love lost, or an opportunity squandered, tend to create a whip of regret for their own use. And should one begin using that whip of guilt on oneself, the Devil will always offer his help.
One should definitely avoid travelling down the beaten track of nostalgia if it produces a barrage of depressing thoughts. Remember this, the Devil uses tools such as music, scents and pictures to trigger feelings of nostalgia whereby one experiences loss and regret all over again.
The enemy of God would love you to stay in the past where you are tied up in the straight jacket of flashbacks, because he knows that while you are incapacitated by sentimentality, that you are ineffective in the present.
The bottom line is this. If sentimentality pushes one more to the side of melancholy and regret, than it does towards the warm and fuzzy, but controlled feelings of earlier victories and precious moments spent with loved ones, then this emotional roller coaster simply translates into the viral infectious data of which the mind should steer clear.
The disciples of Jesus must have reminisced about the time when Israel was a kingdom, and most probably thought back to the greatest of their former kings, King David, and his glorious reign. They desired that Israel would become a real force with which to be reckoned, just as it had been back in the day. Their memories took them back to the good old days about which their forefathers had spoken, and they wanted this to become a reality once more.
The problem was that although the days of King David had come and gone; the truth was that they were subject to a conquering army of Romans and governed by its governor. All they had was nostalgia and they wanted a repeat performance. Jesus told them to look forward to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit instead.
The problem with nostalgia and the sentimentality that it ushers into our lives is that it encourages “pipe dreams” and fantasies, which are not founded on present reality but on what might be.
However, we DO live in a real world with real challenges, including obstacles such as contention with diseases and financial lack, to contending with the Devil and the resistance that he offers, even though for Christians, he is no longer a major problem but a minor pest.
God does not want us to dwell in the past, which has already PASSED by. God takes pleasure in our courageous forward movement, complete with steps (not leaps) of faith. When we demonstrate courage to take these steps of faith, we show God that we trust in His ability and not our own.
There is nothing back there in our past that offers anything except a little encouragement and some valuable lessons, and a few moments of tenderness.
Sentimentality cannot shape our future it can only delay our present activity. All we really have is NOW. We must live NOW, like there is no tomorrow, because tomorrow is just another word with the hope of what might be, God willing.
Someone once said, “Tomorrow never comes”. And they are right because when tomorrow gets here, it will simply be another “today”, and the nostalgia of yesterday will not be all that it was cracked up to be, anyway.
There is nothing wrong with cherishing the beautiful and precious memories, which form our nostalgic yesterdays, but surely we have to put more effort into our present responsibilities and fulfill the mission that has been assigned to us, so that our future nostalgia will be those of success and accomplishment, rather than those of failure and regret.
We have one life to live, NOW! We have a job to do NOW! We have a MISSION from God that is not “mission impossible” but “MISSION DO-ABLE” with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Instead of being morbid and melancholy about what could have been; and mourning opportunities missed, let us press forward to make new memories that will glorify God.
