Where do the years go?

Throughout my life, even in childhood, I was fascinated by time travel.

I watched any movie or TV show associated with the topic. From H.G. Wells “The Time Machine” to the series The Time Tunnel, a short-lived series that I watched in reruns growing up. Even “Fantasy Island” or “Sliders” would occasionally have a show that crossed into history that impacted their story lines.

While these were all a pleasant diversion in my childhood, thinking of being able to augment time in the past or visit the future was always an adventure of hope in my mind.

Changing little things in our life that we did wrong. How would that impact our world today.

We avoided an accident, we bought a winning lottery ticket. We avoided a heartache in our love life.

Would our life be better. Who else would our tweaks impact. Could we go back and save a love one’s life?

So many times, have I imagined making such changes.

I recently had the opportunity to look into faces of people I have known through much of my life.

As I stood next to each, shook and how-deed making small talk, I thought back upon the early natures of our friendships. Where we were then and where we are now. How God had moved our lives in different directions. How we once saw each other with regularity now decades later, if once or twice a year comes to pass, it is unusual. While I often long for those days of old in my mind, we have all moved to different places in life. The years are filled with facial lines, life experiences that have built character, deepened our faith stories, changed our lives and made us different people. Do we still care for one another as we once did?

I would say somewhere within our soul, the once existing connections remain allowing us to find the moments of camaraderie and friendship again as we pass the time of day.

I think about how time has moved so swiftly. Lives have flown through decades, many called home, many others remain and grow where they have set roots.

Is looking back at our past good thing or a bad thing? Is dreaming of time travel to impact the past a good fantasy? Should we be looking back or staring into the future?

I think when you stand in a particular place in life, whether your spend your time looking forward or looking back depends upon your own life. If you have created a wonderful life, raised a family and they are successfully traversing the world, you do tend to focus forward with one’s gaze.

If you are a creator, then you also tend to have a forward outlook seeking that next opportunity to make something new. You keep trying, hoping some invention or idea with bless the future and the world.

If the circumstances have placed you elsewhere in life and you find the future to be less interesting, you spend time looking back.

You cherish the people and the times now behind you. You relish the good times and those who were part of your life. Does looking back uplift you? Do you feel more able to face the day and walk through all that is coming at you?

If the answer is yes, then, whether you look backwards or forwards the exercise is productive for you and thus all you touch as long as you do not forget to live today, in the moment that God is giving you.

You have life in your hands. Every moment, everyday, you can make a difference. Even in the greatest disadvantages, you can impact people for the greater good of us all.

Looking in the past, hoping for the future, dreaming of a day that we know our efforts impacted the world and all those around us for good. That’s my hope for you and for me. As we travel through time, let’s enjoy the ride, we only get one turn on the ride.