When nostalgia beckons

The climax of my nostalgia week has arrived as today we head to Cumbria. We’re staying with an old athletics friend—Dave and I ran together for Waterloo Harriers over 50 years ago. The plan is to tackle the Penrith ParkRun and finally add a ‘P’ to my parkrun alphabet.

Dave and I share many memories from a bygone era, in the days when athletics was bigger and faster than today—distant, yes, but still vivid.  The photo is from 1967 when we won the Lancashire 4 x 440 yards championship: Dave is #157. A classic encounter!

And of course, such memories open us to the ever-present danger of nostalgia: the belief that the past was somehow better, largely because we were younger—and didn’t know any better.

I’ll admit, I have a weakness for nostalgia—even in real time. I’m well aware that today’s moments are tomorrow’s treasured memories. But there’s a risk: nostalgia can distort the past and become a place of escape from today’s responsibilities. “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions.”(Ecclesiastes 7:10)

We’re warned not to romanticise the past. It may cloud our judgment or cause us to miss what God is doing now.  We need to be ever alert to see his hand at work, often in our lateral vision. 

Nostalgia was big for the people of Israel, even as they were being rescued from enslavement in Egypt.  There they are in the wilderness and true to form, they start to moan.  “Why can’t we have meat? We ate fish in Egypt—and got it free!—to say nothing of the cucumbers and melons, the leeks and onions and garlic. But nothing tastes good out here; all we get is manna, manna, manna.”(Numbers 11:4)

Such nostalgia blinds them to the reality of their past and causes them to grumble against God, their redeemer. To quote the late Keith Green:

Eating leaks and onions by the NileOoh what breath for dining out in styleOoh, my life's on the skidsBuilding the pyramids,

In contrast, the Hebrew scriptures repeatedly call God's people to remember—but with purpose. Not to long for Egypt, but to remember that they were slaves, and that God delivered them when all hope seemed lost. A typical verse: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there.”(Deuteronomy 24:18)

In other words, train your memory.  Avoid nostalgia: practice gratitude as a mental discipline. We’re called to remember the past in order to thank God for his faithfulness and to learn from it, so that our trust in him deepens today, a key theme in the book of Psalms. “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.” (Psalm 77:11)

And nowhere is this more central than in Holy Communion. There we recall Christ’s suffering and death—a past event that reshapes the present and anchors our hope for the future. No nostalgia here, just a sense of terrible suffering and human cruelty as a measure of God’s sacrificial love, even for us.  

Above all, our Christian faith is to be future-focused. Like a runner in a race, our eyes are on the finishing line. No athlete in their right mind enjoys the race itself—every fibre of your being urges you to slow down. I still remember the pain of the final bend—and the surge of joy as the finish line came into view.

The apostle Paul uses the same image: “I keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped me. I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead, I go straight for the goal—the reward of being called by God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12–14)

So how do we handle hardship? Not by looking back, but by looking forward to God's glorious future.  So the apostle Paul urges: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

(Romans 8:18)

Of course, for many church members, there’s a strong temptation to look back fondly: to the full buildings, the busy youth groups, the thriving choir. But Jesus cautions us: “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

Living in the past can blind us to God's work in the present—and make us resist the new things he is doing, even through hardship and tough testing.

“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 wilderness

and streams in the wasteland.”

(Isaiah 43:18–19)

C S Lewis helpfully adds: “You can't go back and recreate the past; the past is gone. But the present and future hold God's promise, calling us to faithful engagement rather than regret.”

So let us remember the past not to retreat into it, but to recognise God's faithfulness—so that, with eyes fixed on the finish, we may run with hope toward the future he is already preparing.