Author: Paul Nordman

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No Turning Back

Let’s dig a little deeper. In last week’s post, we approached the matter of “euphoric recall” — our tendency to remember past experiences more positively than they actually were, and not to recall the negative things associated with those events — for instance, the insecurities, disappointments, or pains, both those we suffered and those we inflicted. As we observed, such selective memory embellishes our past, deflates our present, and sets an unreasonable standard for tomorrow. Moreover, it coaxes us back to a life we thought we left behind.

Consider the addict who has been sober for some time. Seeing some friends drinking and laughing together, she thinks, “Maybe one drink wouldn’t hurt,” or “I’m not sure sobriety is worth missing all the fun I used to have.” Forgetting the frustrations and failures of a life formerly spinning out of control, she lets the feelings of the moment distort the lessons from her past. Here is another example: Recalling a former “flame” through the foggy mist of time, the man “follows” her a little too closely — and “likes” her a little too wrongly — on social media, remembering the warmth of companionship, but forgetting all the reasons each is now an “ex” of the other. Or what about all the times we compromise godly gain to regain worldly approval? In these moments, we can recognize and resist the deception of revisionist recollection, or emulate the puppy of Proverbs, instead: “Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.”1

So Peter charges us to detect these and other deceptions, and to own our response to temptations: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct . . .”2 Through the wonder of God’s favor, we are liberated and empowered for exactly this. Paul writes, “For the grace of God . . . teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”3 Peter likewise reminds us of God’s provision: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”4

The psalmist Asaph wrote, “I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.”5 With this honest look-back, he entrusted his present and future to God: “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.”6 May we so live today.

I will hear what God the Lord will say; For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones; And may they not turn back to foolishness. — Psalm 85:8 NASB

Our Father, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.7 In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Proverbs 26:11 ESV
2 1 Peter 1:14-15 ESV
3 Titus 2:11-12 ESV
4 2 Peter 1:3 NIV
5 Psalm 73:21-22 NIV
6 Psalm 73:23-24 NIV
7 Matthew 6:9, 13 ESV

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Euphoric Recall Exposed

My high school graduating class was special; we were close. We knew it then, and we know it now. We can — and often do — tell story after story, laughing harder now than we did at the time, for as we recollect our younger antics from a now older perspective, we shake our heads with a grin — “What were we thinking?!?” We will gather next summer for our 50th class reunion. Hard to believe.

Those of us who are prone to reminisce about “the good old days” when life was “carefree” do well to remember them more completely. For we are naturally prone to “euphoric recall,” the tendency to remember past experiences more positively than they actually were and not to remember the negative things associated with those events — the troubles, insecurities, danger, and confusion, for instance. Such romanticism is tantalizing and misleading, painting a revisionist reflection of the past, and dulling our present by contrast. Solomon warns against it: “Say not, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.”1 For memory bias inflates our past as something more than it was, distorts our present as something less than it is, and sets an unreasonable standard for what tomorrow must be. Yes, it is hard to compete with euphoric recall.

But when we look back more honestly, remembering the bad with the good, we can appreciate something far greater than the false foundation of selective memory: the undeterred faithfulness of our proactive God. Paul’s truthful perspective on the past resonates still today: “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy . . .”2 This was our reality — far from euphoric — until God stepped in. Paul continues, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”3

God’s plan for us far exceeds any other narrative we can construct through selective memory. We look back, yes, but not to return to an imaginary past, rather to gain strength for our sure and certain way forward.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”4

Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!5 Amen.

1 Ecclesiastes 7:10 ESV
2 Titus 3:3 ESV
3 Titus 3:4-7 ESV
4 Hebrews 13:8 ESV
5 Psalm 25:6-7 ESV

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Pardon the Interruption

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” — Yogi Berra

Nearly 125 inmates and outside volunteers recently gathered for a Kairos Prison Ministry monthly reunion. The purpose of this evening’s theme — “interruptions to the natural order of things” — was to wake us to the realization that disruptions to normalcy may be God’s invitation to encounter Him and discover His plans for us. The emcee for the evening pointed out some Biblical examples, Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, for instance — the Pharisee would become an apostle. There was Moses at the burning bush — the one raised in Pharaoh’s household would lead the Exodus from his land. We could point to Abraham, Joseph, Job, and many more whose life changed at various points of interruption. Most likely, we could look in the mirror and find one more.

Some discontinuity comes as welcome relief, such as when hopelessness encounters hope and heartache finds healing. For instance, one prison resident recalled, “I had always set walls around me, but I took them down on my Kairos Weekend in 2003, and I have had no walls since then.” Kairos was, for him, a positive disruption, a welcome life-changer. Some interruptions, however, are traumatic, such as difficult diagnoses, relationships in wreckage, or monetary meltdown.

So what do we do when normalcy is disrupted, whether seemingly for the good, or seemingly for the bad? Trust; we must choose to trust. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”1 Notice God’s command to trust, and His promise to act. For God’s faithfulness is not dictated by circumstance, rather in sovereignty He “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”2 So whether God causes an interruption or merely allows it, of this we can be sure: God will subject all things to Himself, for in all things, “God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”3 God is sovereign over all things and He will act. In God we trust.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never fail; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” — Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

Father, You are sovereign over all things, and all things must be subjugated to Your will. Help us to remember this amid life’s unexpected interruptions and to place our trust in You. You are good. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Proverbs 3: 5-6 ESV
2 Ephesians 1:11 NIV
3 Romans 8:28 NIV