Wrong Place, Wrong Time?
(the following was originally written on Aug. 13, 2004 ... and updated today)
I know that I am not the first to contemplate this ... nor will I be the last.
Do you ever wonder if you were born in the wrong time and place? Or, at the very least, look on other time periods and wonder if they had it 'better' ... whatever that might mean. Today I went to a local heritage site ... a place that is a step back in history. They have collected buildings from throughout the beginning days and years of this province's history and placed them in one location, recreating a town of sorts from those days long gone. I have to admit, there is a part of me that yearns to have lived in another time. I have entertained thoughts of what life might have been like during a variety of times and places ... medieval Europe, time of the Reformation, or Renaissance, days of exploration and discovery, Edwardian or Elizabethan England, Victorian times (American or British), or when America was being opened up and settled.
To look at what our world has become today can be a little disconcerting, to say the least. We want for nothing - we are surrounded with 'stuff' ... more on an average street here than whole towns in developing countries. And yet, we are empty. We rush ... for what? We are all about time management and multi-tasking and getting as much done in as little time as possible ... and are we any better off? Are we happier? Are we more content? Do we have better relationships? Do we demonstrate genuine compassion and care for those in our world more?
I sat in a coffee shop from the turn of the century. The pie I ate ... (wishful thinking?) seemed to taste better, more intense, more flavourful. I looked out on the street that was a gravel road, not much different than what one might see on an episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. A cart pulled by a horse, with bags of feed in the back. The driver in overalls, rolled up shirt-sleeves, a straw hat, and work boots. I watched as he maneuvered the horse to back the cart into the stable. How many people would know how to do that today? He unloaded the bags, unhitched the horse, and led him away ... to a stable somewhere else, likely. From the window, I could also see a house ... outside of which there were about 5-6 children playing. No video games! No dresses looking like Christina Aguilera with bare midriff and provocative attire like the young girls that age would dress today. The boys - nothing that hung off their hips with boxers showing, and oversized shirts or hoodies and chains hanging with a skateboard in hand. The girls wore dresses and jumpers that came down to mid-calf, boots that needed a hook to close them, bonnets ... the boys wore knickers, suspenders, caps. Surreal. They played a game with sticks and a hoop ... and seemed to really enjoy themselves. They were out in the sun, getting their dose of vitamin D and fresh air. I had been in that house earlier - and it was simple. A drawing room with books and a piano in it, a kitchen with a stove that operated with firewood, a dining room, bedrooms with narrow beds, simple toys on the bed and chairs ... nothing special. Certainly not to the elaboration that the average home would be like today!! but all they needed was there. Even without electricity.
As I sat there, I realized that I most definitely was romanticizing the 'vision' I was witness to. I'm sure that it was a lot of hard hard work. I'm sure that my joy in reading and learning and thinking is something that would definitely be a luxury if I lived then. Ha ... would I be married? Or would I be a teacher sworn to singlehood for the length of time I taught ... what would my options be? Teaching or becoming a nurse ... fine nurse I'd be! faint at the sight of blood ... I know that in those days women were not allowed to own property, they were pretty much regulated to providing for others ... a life of self-sacrifice to the ultimate.
Don't get me wrong ... I'm not against sacrificing yourself for something or someone that is of value to you (or God) ... again, the romantic flair comes forth ... to completely open yourself to the intimacy and honesty with another. But somehow I don't think that 'love' was uppermost in the minds of most marriages then. I think that women were chosen because they could breed well (after all you'd need healthy strong children to help you run your operations, be they farm or business), because they could provide for the male's needs (food or 'other'), because they could demonstrate their usefulness. And I'm sure that there was a type of love that came from this. But not the type that I long for ... to completely lose myself in, to 'know' another and to truly see them ... and love them completely regardless, in spite of, and because of, fully unconditional. Would that have been possible then? Almost as if the self-sacrifice of the woman from then as compared to the self-sacrifice of what I dream of ... the same word, but totally different concepts.
As I sat there, I thought of the concept of productivity - how those people could look at their day when it was done and point to what they did. What they had completed, and they SAW the fruits of their labour. I look to my day ... and do I see the same thing? I see a bit of cleaning done ... I see some receipts piled and itemized. I see how much I have sold ... which really is not accurate, for it might be that I was at the till when someone came up. I will see activities completed in class, worksheets typed out ... I will remember making eye contact with a student. I will have a discussion; I will set 'me' aside to actively and truly listen.
All these things are not the same accomplishments as what they did. In fact, there are times when I KNOW I've done something but there is nothing I can show for it. I might not even see the influence I made in a life until many years down the path ... and then, only if I'm lucky and the student remembers to share with me.
Was it really better then? It certainly was simpler. But couldn't I find a way to live 'simply' today? To live with only what I need? To keep my environment basic? I'd love to learn how to quilt ... to make my own quilt for my bed would be something that appeals to me. I'd love to surround myself with beautiful music, natural colors and fibers, wood. I'd like to be able to get lost in my feather bed. Flannel sheets ... cozy sweaters. I'd love to grow a flower garden. I'd love to bake bread, and sit surrounded by candlelight and music to drift away on the beautiful voice or haunting melody. I'd love to have a cup of tea in the sunlight and read more than one chapter in one sitting.
To emulate what I can that I love about that time period into my postmodern existence now ... I wonder if it is possible. I'm sure it is.
And the simplest and basic core: love God with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind. If I use that as the basic, and allow all else to flow from that ... keep it simple ... could I find it? And what else can be simpler than love?
I need to remember that I’ve been placed at this time and in this place for a reason. If God had wanted me to live in those times, I would have been born then. I need to look for opportunity now, here … where I am. And if I can live simply too, then maybe my soul can discover a little of what was good about those times and live them today.
Addendum … (Sept.25) I needed to add something I came across today. I picked up a copy of Tim McGraw’s Live Like You Are Dying. Now, I’m not a country fan as a rule, but there is something about this title song that has captured my heart. Well, there are a couple of others on this album that are weaving their way into my soul … and one bears a connection to this posting … hence the addendum.
BACK WHEN
Don’t you remember the fizz in a pepper
Peanuts in the bottle at ten two and four
A fried bologna sandwich
with mayo and tomatoes
Sitting at the table don’t happen much no more
We’ve gotten too complicated;
it’s all way overrated
I love the old and outdated way of life
Back when a hoe was a hoe;
coke was a coke
Crack’s what you were doing when you were cracking jokes
Back when a screw was a screw;
the wind was all that blew
When you said, “I’m down with that”,
it meant you had the flu
I miss back when, I miss back when,
I miss back when
I loved my records, black shiny vinyl
Clicks and pops and white noise,
man they sounded fine
Had my favourite station, the one what played ‘em all
Country, soul, rock and roll,
what happened to those times
I’m reading street slang for dummies
‘cause they put pop in my country
I got more for my money the way it was back then
I want a flattop strumming;
give me an old wurly humming
Oh, just keep it coming the way it was back then
Back when a hoe was a hoe;
coke was a coke
Crack’s what you were doing when you were cracking jokes
Back when a screw was a screw;
the wind was all that blew
When you said, “I’m down with that”,
it meant you had the flu
I miss back when, I miss back when,
I miss back when
I wonder what will happen in the world we are headed into .... we cannot turn around, and some are so fearful of moving forward .... some miss the past so much that they refuse to future ... is this me? or can I find some way to embrace the best of the past as I move confidently and God-focused into the future?
I know that I am not the first to contemplate this ... nor will I be the last.
Do you ever wonder if you were born in the wrong time and place? Or, at the very least, look on other time periods and wonder if they had it 'better' ... whatever that might mean. Today I went to a local heritage site ... a place that is a step back in history. They have collected buildings from throughout the beginning days and years of this province's history and placed them in one location, recreating a town of sorts from those days long gone. I have to admit, there is a part of me that yearns to have lived in another time. I have entertained thoughts of what life might have been like during a variety of times and places ... medieval Europe, time of the Reformation, or Renaissance, days of exploration and discovery, Edwardian or Elizabethan England, Victorian times (American or British), or when America was being opened up and settled.
To look at what our world has become today can be a little disconcerting, to say the least. We want for nothing - we are surrounded with 'stuff' ... more on an average street here than whole towns in developing countries. And yet, we are empty. We rush ... for what? We are all about time management and multi-tasking and getting as much done in as little time as possible ... and are we any better off? Are we happier? Are we more content? Do we have better relationships? Do we demonstrate genuine compassion and care for those in our world more?
I sat in a coffee shop from the turn of the century. The pie I ate ... (wishful thinking?) seemed to taste better, more intense, more flavourful. I looked out on the street that was a gravel road, not much different than what one might see on an episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. A cart pulled by a horse, with bags of feed in the back. The driver in overalls, rolled up shirt-sleeves, a straw hat, and work boots. I watched as he maneuvered the horse to back the cart into the stable. How many people would know how to do that today? He unloaded the bags, unhitched the horse, and led him away ... to a stable somewhere else, likely. From the window, I could also see a house ... outside of which there were about 5-6 children playing. No video games! No dresses looking like Christina Aguilera with bare midriff and provocative attire like the young girls that age would dress today. The boys - nothing that hung off their hips with boxers showing, and oversized shirts or hoodies and chains hanging with a skateboard in hand. The girls wore dresses and jumpers that came down to mid-calf, boots that needed a hook to close them, bonnets ... the boys wore knickers, suspenders, caps. Surreal. They played a game with sticks and a hoop ... and seemed to really enjoy themselves. They were out in the sun, getting their dose of vitamin D and fresh air. I had been in that house earlier - and it was simple. A drawing room with books and a piano in it, a kitchen with a stove that operated with firewood, a dining room, bedrooms with narrow beds, simple toys on the bed and chairs ... nothing special. Certainly not to the elaboration that the average home would be like today!! but all they needed was there. Even without electricity.
As I sat there, I realized that I most definitely was romanticizing the 'vision' I was witness to. I'm sure that it was a lot of hard hard work. I'm sure that my joy in reading and learning and thinking is something that would definitely be a luxury if I lived then. Ha ... would I be married? Or would I be a teacher sworn to singlehood for the length of time I taught ... what would my options be? Teaching or becoming a nurse ... fine nurse I'd be! faint at the sight of blood ... I know that in those days women were not allowed to own property, they were pretty much regulated to providing for others ... a life of self-sacrifice to the ultimate.
Don't get me wrong ... I'm not against sacrificing yourself for something or someone that is of value to you (or God) ... again, the romantic flair comes forth ... to completely open yourself to the intimacy and honesty with another. But somehow I don't think that 'love' was uppermost in the minds of most marriages then. I think that women were chosen because they could breed well (after all you'd need healthy strong children to help you run your operations, be they farm or business), because they could provide for the male's needs (food or 'other'), because they could demonstrate their usefulness. And I'm sure that there was a type of love that came from this. But not the type that I long for ... to completely lose myself in, to 'know' another and to truly see them ... and love them completely regardless, in spite of, and because of, fully unconditional. Would that have been possible then? Almost as if the self-sacrifice of the woman from then as compared to the self-sacrifice of what I dream of ... the same word, but totally different concepts.
As I sat there, I thought of the concept of productivity - how those people could look at their day when it was done and point to what they did. What they had completed, and they SAW the fruits of their labour. I look to my day ... and do I see the same thing? I see a bit of cleaning done ... I see some receipts piled and itemized. I see how much I have sold ... which really is not accurate, for it might be that I was at the till when someone came up. I will see activities completed in class, worksheets typed out ... I will remember making eye contact with a student. I will have a discussion; I will set 'me' aside to actively and truly listen.
All these things are not the same accomplishments as what they did. In fact, there are times when I KNOW I've done something but there is nothing I can show for it. I might not even see the influence I made in a life until many years down the path ... and then, only if I'm lucky and the student remembers to share with me.
Was it really better then? It certainly was simpler. But couldn't I find a way to live 'simply' today? To live with only what I need? To keep my environment basic? I'd love to learn how to quilt ... to make my own quilt for my bed would be something that appeals to me. I'd love to surround myself with beautiful music, natural colors and fibers, wood. I'd like to be able to get lost in my feather bed. Flannel sheets ... cozy sweaters. I'd love to grow a flower garden. I'd love to bake bread, and sit surrounded by candlelight and music to drift away on the beautiful voice or haunting melody. I'd love to have a cup of tea in the sunlight and read more than one chapter in one sitting.
To emulate what I can that I love about that time period into my postmodern existence now ... I wonder if it is possible. I'm sure it is.
And the simplest and basic core: love God with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind. If I use that as the basic, and allow all else to flow from that ... keep it simple ... could I find it? And what else can be simpler than love?
I need to remember that I’ve been placed at this time and in this place for a reason. If God had wanted me to live in those times, I would have been born then. I need to look for opportunity now, here … where I am. And if I can live simply too, then maybe my soul can discover a little of what was good about those times and live them today.
Addendum … (Sept.25) I needed to add something I came across today. I picked up a copy of Tim McGraw’s Live Like You Are Dying. Now, I’m not a country fan as a rule, but there is something about this title song that has captured my heart. Well, there are a couple of others on this album that are weaving their way into my soul … and one bears a connection to this posting … hence the addendum.
BACK WHEN
Don’t you remember the fizz in a pepper
Peanuts in the bottle at ten two and four
A fried bologna sandwich
with mayo and tomatoes
Sitting at the table don’t happen much no more
We’ve gotten too complicated;
it’s all way overrated
I love the old and outdated way of life
Back when a hoe was a hoe;
coke was a coke
Crack’s what you were doing when you were cracking jokes
Back when a screw was a screw;
the wind was all that blew
When you said, “I’m down with that”,
it meant you had the flu
I miss back when, I miss back when,
I miss back when
I loved my records, black shiny vinyl
Clicks and pops and white noise,
man they sounded fine
Had my favourite station, the one what played ‘em all
Country, soul, rock and roll,
what happened to those times
I’m reading street slang for dummies
‘cause they put pop in my country
I got more for my money the way it was back then
I want a flattop strumming;
give me an old wurly humming
Oh, just keep it coming the way it was back then
Back when a hoe was a hoe;
coke was a coke
Crack’s what you were doing when you were cracking jokes
Back when a screw was a screw;
the wind was all that blew
When you said, “I’m down with that”,
it meant you had the flu
I miss back when, I miss back when,
I miss back when
I wonder what will happen in the world we are headed into .... we cannot turn around, and some are so fearful of moving forward .... some miss the past so much that they refuse to future ... is this me? or can I find some way to embrace the best of the past as I move confidently and God-focused into the future?
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