A New Thing

Sitting atop a chest of drawers in my bedroom are two old fashioned porcelain vases. Covered in a floral design, with a couple of chips here and there, these two vases sit by side as ornaments, much to my wife’s chagrin.

“Can’t we get rid of those ugly things?” she constantly asks.

My oft-repeated reply of, “No. They belonged to my great grand-mother,” is always met with the question “so?”

So – why do I keep them? I paused to ponder this very deep question recently. Why should the fact that these vases once belonged to an ancestor I never met or knew have enough relevance for me to hang on to these things (which are rather ugly, and worthless)? Why too do I keep things that once belonged to grandparents and parents, unable to ever contemplate throwing them away, as if to do so would be an insult?

My wife simply thinks I’m a hoarder, and points to the box of old newspapers, my junior sport medals and folders full of old football cards as evidence.

I guess with the family heirlooms it’s more of a case of wanting a link to the past. A heritage. An acknowledgement of those who have come before me, without whom I wouldn’t exist. Something tangible that connects me to my ancestors.

But the danger exists for all of us of getting stuck in the past. Nostalgia can get a powerful hold on us and prevent us moving forward. Many people today get mired in the hurt, bitterness or grief of past days, and it can be hurtful and harmful. Or they look so fondly back to the ‘good old days’ that they become rancorous or defeatist about the present and the future.

In the Bible, the prophet Isaiah records God as saying, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

A belief that God is continually at work creating and bringing about new circumstances and new opportunities and new experiences – ‘new things’- is what gives the Christian hope and a sense of excitement of what lies ahead in life. It frees us from the past. We are much easier able to ‘let go’ and just ‘let God’.

We don’t get dragged down by our past failures or hurts so much, because we know that our mistakes are forgiven and something new waits just around the corner.

When you become a follower of Jesus, it’s just like becoming a new person. The past is the past. And you can leave it there. You can move forward in freedom. The old is gone. No longer relevant.

But… when it comes to family heirlooms?

Hmm – the vases - I think I’ll hang on to them, for a little while longer anyway.

Sorry, dear.


www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington