Fast Forward or Rewind

Young folks today will never know the pain. Trying to find just the right spot on the cassette where your favorite song started. Nothing was more of a downer than to be primed for the most awesome Air Guitar solo ever only to have skipped ahead too far and when you hit the play button it was in the middle of a sappy ballad!

Ah yes, technology – the ease and convenience of digital and on demand music. Gone are the 8 tracks and cassettes. But this isn’t a thought about longing for old school musics devices. It’s about an encounter I had at the park the other day and it’s had me thinking about fast forward and rewind.

I recently started a new job and fortunately there’s a large community park just a few miles away. I go there most everyday to eat my lunch, get out of the office for a bit and I try to walk around the ball fields on my journey to better health.

As I made my normal laps and was walking back to my truck I found myself suddenly caught in a time warp or so it seemed. The parking lot there is like most, divided into rows of spaces on the left and right as you drive in. I usually look for a spot under a shady tree and it seems several others had as well. As I turned the corner and walked down the parking lot aisle I found myself walking in between 2 very different groups of people.

It seems a small group of retired couples had chosen to take advantage of nice day that wasn’t the approximate temperature of the sun and less than 1000% humidity as it often is in North Carolina and had gathered under a spreading oak tree and were having an impromptu tailgate party, complete with chairs and good conversation. “Cool” I thought as I approached, “that sounds like the place to be today.” As I continued walking, I looked to my right and immediately across from the laid back tailgate was 2 young moms, complete with strollers, working feverishly to get some very uncooperative children out of their car seats and ready for some “fun” at the park. Their conversation didn’t seem quite as enticing to me and brought back memories of struggling with a fussy toddler to do something that should have been fun.

“Strange time warp” I thought to myself as I reached my truck. Total opposite points in life for sure. I began to think a lot about the 2 groups from the park as I drove back to the office. While I’d like to think my walking down the middle of those 2 events showed I’m right in between both, the increasing battle against gray hairs and sore muscles tell me I’m moving closer to the tailgate side. I began to wonder for each of those groups who would like to move forward or backward?

We often just assume that the seasoned tailgaters would love to rewind back to youth and young children again and that the moms would never give thought to being able to join the retirement tailgate, but is that really true?

Perhaps the more experienced folks looked across the parking lot at the young moms and had some fond memories but maybe their experience and wisdom did not have them wishing to go back to those times anymore than I want to give up telling Siri to play my song whenever I want to.

And maybe the young moms glanced across the aisle and gave some thought to where they would be when they reach the tailgaters age and where their fussy babies might be at that point.

It’s well documented here that I wax nostalgic often and have a hard time moving forward. But thinking of that scenario was perfect for me. Looking back at being younger, looking forward to aging gracefully, but more importantly I was walking, moving and not holding to the past and not fearful of the future.

Scripture tells us in Psalm 8:4 “Who is man that you are mindful of him . . . “ and Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that there is a time for everything. Young moms at the park and retired tailgaters included.

As you read this, ponder where you are in your walk of life. Maybe it’s at the fussy toddler car or maybe you’re seated at the tailgate discussing life. Maybe you think of rewinding or fast forwarding from time to time. That’s OK just as long as you remember that you are here in the now, created for a purpose and remember to hit “Play.”