“things are not all as graspable and sayable
as on the whole we are led to believe;
most events are unsayable, occur in a space
that no word has ever penetrated”

[letters to a young poet, rainer maria rilke]

to echo Rilke thoughts, we are not always able
to obtain that which we long for, grasp for

perhaps it is good, that there is so much that
is ungraspable, unsayable, for not everything
can be obtained or contained to words

even if we could acquire that what matters
we would not know how to hold onto it

we seek after the wrong things
go down the wrong rabbit holes

many of the things we hold onto
are not strong enough to hold us

as such, it is good that there is
a limit to what can be grasped

for nothing that can be grasped
is worth holding onto
or placing more weight upon

what is truly worth
our weight, our attention
penetrates everything

if we dare believe it

…

as a lover of histories, forgotten lives,
buried memories, nostalgic pondering,
i have a tendency to romanticise the past

nostalgia is the perfect definition
for my attachment to the past

i have a wistful affection and longing
for what has been, instead of what will be

but my curiosity towards the “then”
can overtake the beauty of “now”

i have acknowledged that there is a limit
to which the past can be explored
without sacrificing the mystery of the present

and so today is a reflection
on the dangers of nostalgia
and the beauty of the new

i have previously explored elements of this
topic on the blog in “the past has passed”
and so today is an extension of this post,
as we move from “nostalgia to new”

in Scriptures, we are called into the new:

“remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.

behold, i am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

i will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.”

[isaiah 43:18-19]

the danger of course, is that:

we will not perceive or see
the new things God is doing
if we are stuck remembering
and looking to the former things

“i am doing a new thing”

is an invitation to see, to seek
to pay attention to what God
is doing and will do in the world

“remember not the former”

is a warning not to dwell
or remain on what has been

we may be called to remember
but we are not called to remain
in the things of old, the former

“see, the former things have taken
place, and new things i declare;
before they spring into being
i announce them to you.”

[isaiah 42:9]

here we learn that God is not only
declaring, ushering forth new things
but he is announcing them to us
before these new things even occur

this is important, if we are stuck
on the former things, what has been
then we may miss the announcement

he wants us to behold the new
and to behold is to see and observe

that is, we are to pay attention
to focus on, and be ready
for what he is doing

beholding and romanticising the past
prevents us from beholding the new

how many times does Jesus warn
his followers that not all will
have eyes to see, ears to hear?

are we listening to the
broken records of the past?

or are we waiting, attentive
to God’s whisper of new?

…

as humans, we have this tendency
to fall into the familiarity of our past

nostalgia calls us to slumber, to wade
in the depths of what has been
so that we miss the whisper of desire
the yearning, the hope for what is not yet

but if God is doing a new thing
the invitation is to enter into the new
not to walk down memory lane

God is calling us
to partner with him
to be on mission for him
to have our lamps lit
ready, awake, alert

yet nostalgia and the past
can keep us captive

to old thought patterns
to past attachments

to unchallenged beliefs that cushion our hearts
offering the illusion of security and trust

but we are not called
to the comfort of the past

we are called to the adventure
of the new thing God is doing

…

the inspiration for this post was
a recent trip down memory lane

below is my poetic ramblings when
i visited my old neighbourhood
of Glebe in Sydney, Australia:

…

routines and rhythms

i return to my old stomping ground
and am reminded of the past

the stores i walked by everyday
that after many years became
so familiar, too familiar

now, i see them anew again
but with the appreciation of old

i see the shop owners 
who have stood the test of time

it is five years since i last
lived and existed on this street

the hustle and bustle of Glebe
Sydney’s inner city oasis

it is a long weekend and it is quiet
it almost feels too quiet

was it always so?

was it not the place that
was hustling and bustling

but me?

all those years of striving
the routines and rhythms
that were so easy to 
rinse, repeat in autopilot mode

was i just living in survival mode?

was i not slow living enough
to see how quiet the neighbourhood
how cosy, quaint, the community

over the years i have missed
this suburb so dearly

i have longed to re-enter 
the daily rhythm of long walks
along the foreshore
weaving around the bays 

but i realise now
that i was not longing for the place

i was longing for
the routine and rhythms

that which i have not
been able to re-create 
in my new home

i return and realise i only yearn
to re-enter those rhythms

but i see that in order to do so
would also be to leave behind
the new rhythms God is calling me to
in marriage and God-willing soon motherhood

the rhythms and routines of the past
will not serve future me

God is calling me to look forward
to be prepared for the new rhythms and
routines he has for me, for my thriving

he doesn’t want me to be so nostalgic of the past
to the point that i lose sight of what is in store

he doesn’t want me just surviving

he wants me to grow 

…

this reflection got me thinking:

how do we learn to let go of the past
and prepare our hearts and minds for
what God has in store for us, now and next?

to explore this, we need to look at
both what God is calling us from
and what God is calling us to

what is God calling us from?

Jesus is very clear, when he invites us to follow Him,
that he wants us to leave behind our former selves

he says to his disciples “if anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for my sake will find it. for what will it profit
a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

[matthew 16:24-26]

we love to save ourselves – from trouble, from pain,
creating a cocoon of a life that keeps us safe

but Jesus is revealing that we were not made to seek
to control our lives. we can so easily fall into the
habit of salvation of self, seeking deliverance from
our circumstances, our wellbeing, our relationships
in what the world offers, in what we can obtain

but Jesus is calling for a departure from self-salvation
in order that we might be able to receive the
gift of his salvation. he came to save and deliver us
from ourselves, from evil, and from our circumstances
that are too-often world-gaining, not soul-shaping

Jesus wants us to gain what truly matters
eternal salvation for our souls

but we cannot receive this gift, this eternal gain
if we are seeking salvation and deliverance elsewhere

so the question is, what are we being asked
to lose? what is Jesus calling us to give up?

…

let’s explore what Jesus says in Luke 17, from verse 20

here Jesus is addressing the preparedness of his
disciples when it comes to the kingdom of God

he is indirectly asking a question of whether
or not they would be ready for his return

he is telling these things to them before he
has left them, and so it is an interesting dynamic
where he is conveying the message that he will
leave them, while also conveying that he will return

he gives them two examples in Noah and Lot:

 “just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be
in the days of the Son of Man. they were eating
and drinking and marrying and being given in
marriage, until the day when Noah entered the
ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.”

[luke 17:26-7]

just as it was, so it will be

Jesus is hinting here, that there is a pattern
to the rhythms under the sun. what was, will be

“likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot— they were
eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and
building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom,
fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all
— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

[luke 17:28-30]

just as it was, so it will be

the similarities in these two stories and circumstances
is the blissful ignorance of the society at the time
of the destruction that was to come to them

the generation was caught enjoying life, enjoying love
found in the pursuit of pleasure and worldly matters

we too live in a generation that is blissfully ignorant
of the things of God, and the power of His love and justice

Jesus gave these examples to his disciples as a reminder
that we do not know the day, nor the hour, of the end times

all he asks us is to
be ready, alert, waiting

Jesus does not want
his followers to be unprepared

and so we can also read these two examples as warnings of judgemen
“the day” that brought destruction to everyone on the earth in Noah’s generation
or the destruction brought to Sodom and Gomorrah in Lot’s generation

Jesus does not want us to get too comfortable
with this life here on earth, these rhythms
of pleasure and comfort, eating and drinking,
to the point that we forget Him, and forget
His call to be ready, with oil in our lamps

Jesus does not want us to be too attached to the
things of this world, that we lose sight of Him in this world

Noah and Lot both lived in a generation who were
going about their lives, blissfully ignorant of God
but in an instant, were destroyed

God showed kindness and was merciful
to Noah and Lot, and their families
but there was a consequence for
those living their lives without God

and Jesus calls his disciples attention
to an important lesson from Lot’s story:

“remember Lot’s wife” he says [32]

he knows when he says this to his disciplies
that they will know what he is referring to

to understand why Jesus tells
his followers to remember Lot’s wife
we need to turn to Genesis 19

in Lot’s generation, the sin was very
grave in Sodom and Gomorrah [18:20]

Abraham had asked God [18:23]:
“will you indeed sweep away the
righteous with the wicked?”

he was asking whether salvation
and deliverance was to be a part
of God’s plan for humanity, despite
the wickedness and evil under the sun

we see the Lord remind Abraham
of His merciful nature. and sure enough,
this merciful nature extends to Lot

God sends angels to warn Lot of the
destruction and punishment of the city

at first, Lot is said to linger/hesitate [19:16]
but the angels take him and his family and
force them out of their home, and we are
told this is “the Lord being merciful to him”

the angels urge Lot to escape, telling him:
“flee” and “don’t look back” [19:17]

this is a clear directive
from the angels
not to look back

physically, yes

but perhaps there is
more to this directive
than meets the eye

when we keep reading, we learn that Lot’s wife did
not obey the angel’s directive: “but Lot’s wife, behind
him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” [19:26]

when we see Jesus recount to His
disciples to “remember Lot’s wife”

we are to remember her
and learn from her because

she looked back

she rejected the invitation
the angel’s offered
the protection God provided
the freedom calling

she looked back

we understand there was a
physical dimension to this

she looked back, and
turned into a pillar of salt

but there is also an extent
to which her looking back was
emotional, spiritual, mental

she was unable to look forward
unable to step into what God called
unable to see what lay ahead
what God promised through his angels

she looked back

her heart was not ready to leave
that which was subject to destruction

she was looking back to something
that God was destroying and calling
her away from, for her own safety

but she did not see His salvation,
His deliverance. all she saw was what
she was losing and leaving behind

some may wonder whether she
only looked back out of curiosity

but we need to remember the context,
and the command against looking back

this post frames the context well:

“God was delivering her… but her heart
was still longing for what He was judging.

she wasn’t judged for curiosity.
she was judged for attachment.

her body was escaping… but her heart was
still grieving the world God was burning.”

this is the danger with looking back
with nostalgia, reminiscing, remembering

the danger is how it shapes
our desires and longings

what if we are caught
longing for something that
God doesn’t want for us?

what if we are found
longing for something that
God has delivered us from?

what if we return to what
God has rescued us from?

what if we allow ourselves to be pulled towards
something or someone God is calling us away from?

…

how often do we too look back

“to the good old days”
seasons past
nostalgic memories
anniversaries

we are so acquainted
with our comforts
our routines, our rhythms

that we grow attached to them
we cannot leave them

and so when Jesus asks us
to leave behind these things
the attachments, the comforts

when he asks us to be ready
for when he returns

where does he find us?

he knows we have a tendency to
hold onto things that hare not good for us

to stay in what we know
to blend into the culture
to join the generational rhythms
to return like a dog to vomit to sin

but the kingdom of God
calls us to a different lifestyle

we are to be sojourners in this world

we are not to be attached to places, nor
are we to be attached to people or things

Jesus tells us to leave
brother and mother and fathers

what he means by this
is not just to physically leave

but to emotionally, spiritually, mentally
not be co-dependent, or attached

we are to wed ourselves to Christ
for we are the Bride of Christ, bought at a price

and our Husband is returning for us
to take us home

and he does not want to come
and find us attached
to anything other than him

he wants to take us home
to our heavenly home
to our heavenly Father

do we want that?
do we live our lives waiting for that?
are we expectant, prepared?

or will he return and find us looking back
at what we are leaving behind?

will we struggle to let go
of the things of this earth?

will we struggle to leave
everything behind
for the sake of his kingdom?

there is much that God is
calling and delivering us from

but how often do we fail to listen
when he is trying to deliver us,
and protect us from harm?

we are called to a covenant
relationship with God
that is, a love of His heart

when we love someone,
we grieve when they grieve

God wants us to grieve
what grieves Him

if we entertain what grieves Him,
this betrays our heart for Him

when we romanticise what God
is judging and delivering us from
we do not mourn what grieves Him

to desire what destroys Him and what
he is set to destroy is disobedience

the call is not just to not look back
but to set our eyes only on Him

if our attention and affection is found elsewhere
if we are too attached and long for anything else

then we will face the consequence

Jesus, after telling his disciples to remember
Lot’s wife, tells them a commonly-quoted verse:

“whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it
but whoever loses his life will keep it” [33]

here Jesus speaks of preservation, which is a process
that is commonly applied with salt, to extend the life
of something that would otherwise see decay

this is symbolic, given Lot’s wife
turned into a pillar of salt

what she sought to preserve
was her own life, which she lost

so there is a consequence
to self-preservation

read: there is a consequence to “culture of self”
the self-promoting, self-saving, self-serving

Jesus is telling us that when we try to preserve
the things of old, the former things, the past,
the old ways that we lived before we knew Him,
then we will meet decay, we will lose our lives
because we seek to preserve and hold onto
that which will perish, that which will not last

Jesus does not want us to look back, to hold onto
the life we lived before Him. following Him is a call
to let go, to surrender, to release all the former things
to him, and to submit to following his footsteps

walking the way he walked
looking ahead to what he has promised
to what he is calling us into

we are still waiting for his return
and Jesus was concerned
that his followers would not
be ready and waiting
for when he returns

what Jesus was communicating to his disciples,
is still true for us today. the day of the Son of Man
has not yet come, for he has not yet returned

will Jesus find us preserving and holding onto
the things in life that do not matter?

in the following chapter, Jesus asks this very
question. “when the Son of Man comes,
will he find faith on earth?” [luke 18:8]

will he find those who seek Him?
who cry out to God day and night? [7]

there are many things we could be seeking
but Jesus doesn’t regard any of these

it is only those who lose their lives for His sake
those who let go of attaining that of this world

that will find their life:
a life in Him, for him, with Him

…

so we need to ask ourselves
the honest questions:

what are we seeking to preserve?
what are we trying to hold onto?

comfort
familiarity
pleasure
denial
relationship
career
ideal
status

if you are trying to hold onto
anything other than Him
then you are going to lose everything

we need to be holding onto Him and Him alone
because nothing else is strong enough to hold us

so this brings us to the final question:

what is God calling us to?

we have spoken of the dangers of romanticising the past and looking back
and why we are to leave behind the former things the things of God

so let’s touch on the “new thing”
Isaiah [48:6] speaks of God doing:

“from this time i announce to you new things,
hidden things that you have not known”

the new testament provide us more clarity on this new
that is, the new covenant we have with God

Jesus calls his disciples to remembrance of Him
in the last supper, the act of breaking and giving
of bread, and the pouring out of the cup, which
“is the new covenant in [his] blood” [luke 22:20]

this new covenant is the reason we are able
to respond to this invitation into the new

this covenant introduces a new way of
relating with God, a torn veil, an intimacy
the prophets dreamed of, in the gift of the Spirit

we can learn from Paul, what he understood
this new covenant to be an invitation into:

“put off your old self, which belongs to your
former manner of life and is corrupt through
deceitful desires, and to be renewed in
the spirit of your minds, and to put on the
new self, created after the likeness of God
in true righteousness and holiness.“

[ephesians 4:22-24]

we are invited into a process of renewal

this process is far greater than any
“before and after” photo shoot

this process is renewal in the spirit
of our mind, a new manner of life,
a new self, created after the likeness
of God. a call to be more and more
like him as we submit to His plans

this process of renewal is not an
act of renovation, but transformation

we are said to be a “new creation” in Christ
that is to say, we adopt a new way of living

the new covenant makes a way for this
new form of relating and living, but we
need to respond, to allow our lives to
be shaped and changed by this new order

we have been delivered
from a life without Him
into a new life with Him

the old life apart from Him is to be cast off
we are to turn away and not look back
to step into the new life we have in Christ

this means, if we find ourselves turning back
to sinful thinking, past behaviours, etc. then
we must return to Christ, renewing our minds,
and abiding in our true vine, that we may bear fruit

Paul preaches to his own heart “whatever gain i
had, i counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
indeed, i count everything as loss because of the
surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”

[philippians 3:7]

there are many before us who have
also been wrestling with this reality

letting go of what holds
us back from Christ

the gain is found in
the surpassing worth
the great alternative
to living life for self

we are no longer to be attached to other
things that shape our lives, identity, mind

we are to be attached, wedded, to Jesus
and be shaped and changed by Him

“therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 
the new creation has come:
the old has gone, the new is here!”

[2 corinthians 5:17]

we are invited to abide in Him,
remain in Him, be found in Him

everything this side of eternity,
the side of his return, is a foretaste
of what it will be like to forever abide
and dwell in His love, with Him

we are new creations
when we give him control
of our lives, our longings

we are new creations when we
allow the Creator to work
in us, through us, that we may
be found in communion with Him

we are new creations when
we are vessels of His glory
and surpassing power

this is why Paul counts
gaining Christ [phil. 3:8]
being found in him [3:9]
and knowing him [3:10]
becoming like him [3:10]
as worth attaining, striving for

what wastes away and decays is the
outer self, but “our inner self is being
renewed day by day” [2 cor. 4:19]

we can only be transformed
when we look to Him
looking elsewhere will deform us

we are not to behold the old
but to behold Him, His glory

“and we all, with unveiled face,
beholding the glory of the Lord,
are transformed into the same
image from one degree of glory
to another. this comes from the
Lord, who is the Spirit” [3:18]

the newness is not of ourselves
the transformation, the new thing
God is doing, is in us, by His Spirit

…

as it is said in Eccelesiastes
there is nothing new under the sun

the patterns of man
the lessons of history
are forever repeating

there is no appearance of newness
but that is because newness is not
about the outer, but the inner being

we can only be shaped and changed,
transformed, into a new creation
by the work and power of the Spirit

when we behold His Glory
observing and seeing His worth
we are transformed

if we place worth anywhere else
on anyone or anything, this
prevents us from beholding Him

if we seek glory for ourselves
this prevents us from being
transformed by His glory

we need to look
to God’s word, to God
to allow Him
to make us new

…

the Scriptures are God-breathed
they have life that beats, breathes, echoes

God’s heartbeat is one that can be learned
calling us deeper into the delight of Him

delight and discovery go hand in hand
as we are not all-knowing, there is still
much to be known, to be learned

we find the answers to our deepest
longings, questions, desires, in God

the newness is found in Him

God’s heartbeat is one we will forever
be yearning to learn, to know, to follow

may we create space for God
to do a new thing within us

may we be spiritually, mentally, physically
prepared and obedient to his call

may we be ready for his return

ask Him to reveal to you
what you need to let go of

if there is anything
you are romanticising
or holding onto
or attached to
that is preventing you
from surrender

…

we are called to be ministers of the new
ambassaders for Christ [5:20]
messengers of reconciliation [5:18-19]

so don’t look back
look to the new

…


here is some Dallas Willard
for final contemplation:

“old ways of doing things cease to be effective, though
they may have been very powerful in the past. there arises
a very real danger that we will set ourselves in opposition
to what God truly is doing now and aims to do in the future.”

“the hidden dimension of each human life is not visible to others,
nor is it fully graspable even by ourselves. we usually know very
little about the things that move in our own soul, the deepest
level of our life, or what is driving it. our “within” is astonishingly
complex and subtle—even devious. it takes on a life of its own.
only God knows our depths, who we are, and what we would do.”

“he saves us by realistic restoration of our heart to God
and then by dwelling there with his Father through the
distinctively divine Spirit. the heart thus renovated and
inhabited is the only real hope of humanity on earth.”

you can watch the behind the scenes of this blog here