Nostalgia–It isn’t what it used to be.

Christmas time is a time to remember the best of the past. There was, hopefully, for all of us, a time when there was something “magic” in the season. We’re talking colors, smells, and sounds more than presents, or even the Christmas story. It is about warm and fuzzy feelings that produce wistful thoughts. Sentimental hearts and hopeless romantics are always in the market for nostalgia. What is difficult is to sort out the good and the bad related to nostalgic reflection. How much should we indulge, if at all?

There have been studies that have shown the positive effects of nostalgia, beyond the warm feelings. Included are a greater sense of happiness, self-esteem, and increased optimism about the future. It can help with stress and regulate moods. Plus, to do it with others who experienced the same things you did is a form of communal intimacy. All this seems good for the soul.

Put anything on a pedestal, people or eras of history, and you deny reality.

But there are also concerns. Many see deception written all over nostalgia. Take off the sepia-tinted glasses, and you will see that the good old days were just real days, both good and bad. And they were filled with things like racism, sexism, and naïveté towards the world beyond ourselves. The 1950’s bring back fond memories only for those who had it good. “Make America Great Again” is a slogan that plays into this longing for a better time for some, but not for others. The tendency to photoshop selective memories is a form of self-deception. Put anything on a pedestal, people or eras of history, and you deny reality. We need less nostalgia and more honest (cynical?) readings of history. And stop avoiding the painful present by going to an idealized past!

And doesn’t it seem right to read “honest history” that is not filtered through cynical or nostalgic lenses but acknowledges that there is, in every age and every person, a mix of good and bad?

So, how do we proceed? First, it would seem good to rate ourselves. On a scale of one to ten, with one being a cold cynic who hates nostalgia to ten being a warm memory maker–where are you? Aren’t we all just a little conflicted? Doesn’t it seem like some nostalgia, and it is, of course, going to be selective for each of our stories, is a good thing? And doesn’t it seem that too much living in the past, especially a past that neglects injustice towards others, is a bad thing? And doesn’t it seem right to read “honest history” that is not filtered through cynical or nostalgic lenses but acknowledges that there is, in every age and every person, a mix of good and bad?

The Christmas story is susceptible to nostalgia–the cute animals, angels, shepherds and wise men and all. 

Back to Christmas. The Christmas story is susceptible to nostalgia–the cute animals, angels, shepherds and wise men and all. But there is also a very evil king who kills babies. There is a cold Roman empire that could care less about this event that would change history. There was a warning to Mary that her son would cause her soul to be pierced. All to say, there were wonders to celebrate and horrors to contemplate in the first Christmas. Good and bad, just like today.

–Pastor Mark, The Imperfect Pastor

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)

Chronological Snobbery

 

C.S. Lewis is the one who first called someone who thinks that moderns, with all our knowledge and progress, are superior to all who have come before us—“chronological snobs.” In saying so, he was implying that we fail to see the limitations and blindnesses of our age. Thus, it is necessary to turn to other ages for wisdom that will strip away those blindnesses. Since no one wants to be called a snob, and looking down on others is not in fashion, this is worth reflecting on.

The 1950s, when I was born, and Lewis was writing, are often looked back on as either a golden age or as a time before people were awakened and enlightened by civil rights, women’s equality, and sexual revolution—a sort of dark ages. Golden age or dark age? Nostalgia or outrage—how am I supposed to think and feel about this time? Conservatives tend to see it as a golden age, liberals as a dark age.

What is most interesting to me is how people in the 50’s thought of themselves. People then did not see themselves as “backwards” or a progressive stepping stone to the age to come. They may have seen themselves as superior to people in decades before them. Some at least, like my mother, saw themselves as sophisticated, readers of The New Yorker and followers of the latest fashion. This was, after all, the time in which Lewis looked around and saw chronological snobs.

A fascinating example from the 50’s is found in looking at magazine ads, particularly those for cigarettes. Because science and medicine were so highly valued, the cigarette companies had doctors (in white coats) in their ads, recommending particular brands—usually for health benefits!

We laugh…or should we cry, as we think of all who contracted lung cancer? But today, doctors are recommending e-cigarettes. I wonder what people in the year 2050 will think of our age? And I wonder what people in the year 2080 will be looking down on what happens in the 2050s? Do you see how it works?

Lewis argued that people needed previous periods of history to speak into the current age. He argued for reading “the old books.” If we read old books, we are given a helpful vantage point by which we can see the weaknesses in our present culture and time. He argues that we don’t need to turn back the clock (out of nostalgia)—unless it is telling the wrong time (exposing the current dark age). Good wisdom for us snobs. And, of course, there is always the Bible.

—Pastor Mark

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19 NKJV)