Olden Times

MON., APR. 24, 1983, 5:58 AM
FARM, STUDY

You are here in the most familiar place for these Teachings, starting off your work week in the best way possible. Hear, o son, as I speak of olden times, for it is important to consider the past as well as the present and the future. I speak for Him who is the Lord of the now, the Force of the future, and the power of the past.

How do I want you to balance these apparent three dimensions of time? Always in fresh, new ways. There is no “best way” to balance the influence of these three facets of eternal life. Even in olden times there was no “one way”.

The Holy Scriptures are writings from olden times… right? Yes, but they have supreme applicability to the present, and they are a guide for the future… even a predictor. The sermon text for yesterday was a portion of My Sermon on the Plain, the level place. In logical earth time I spoke these words to people of an olden time, who are long dead, along with the lifestyle they lived. Were the admonitions applicable to them, but not to you Presbyterians of 1983?

You know the answer. They were an important guide to those of that olden time, but were no more easily applicable then they are with you today… for whom they remain an important guide, for today and for tomorrow. Those who heard the original words had enemies more real than yours, and no easier to love. Many had less clothing than you possess, so the reality of giving this away to someone in greater need was more serious. They felt the spirit of the Sermon, as you and many of your fellow worshippers did, but the applicability was no easier.

For the very young, there is not much past (not many olden times) and a future so long that it seems irrelevant. Now is the time. In young adulthood the past is gone, so it seems, and (in your culture, at least) the activities of the present are influenced by visions of the future. You once looked ahead to a career at Punahou School, and the activities of your present were geared to the achievement of the best for that future. Then you shifted your view of the future, and the activities of the present became quite different.

Now you look back, when you so desire, to a “series” of olden times that were yours personally to experience… and you value the Biblical times as well. Your now present is certainly affected by those past experiences, the successes and the relative failures. You still envision a future, but there is a good balance with the past, now. The past is generally pleasant to recall, even those harsh times from which growth came. Because your outlook now has a stronger spiritual dimension, the future has a more positive glow than it would have if the economic picture were not mediated by the spiritual.