Wes Riddle's Horse Sense #378

New Year’s Old
Wes Riddle

I’m generally glad that time moves, seasons change and years go by. Tearing off a sheet from the desk calendar is like turning over a proverbial new leaf each month. It is nowhere near as fun by the way, using an electronic means to plan or keep schedules. And throwing the whole paper thing away at the end of the year, well that’s truly exhilarating. Talk about new beginnings, where to continue and where to begin anew. Horizons stretch before uncharted.

But then there’s this strange feeling perceived, like an odd stasis in and of all the observable change. The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same—or at least the more familiar they become. There is certainly a time to every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1), but there is also nothing new under the sun (Eccl 1:9). “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past” (Eccl 3:15). Usually we had to go through the rough and rugged road just to get to where we are, and hopefully year after year it’s to a comparatively better place. Hopefully seeing as how there (not a better place) but for the grace of God, go I.

The fact is that history is replete with ups and downs, betters and also worse. Civilizations are founded; they grow, flourish and then decay. Everything passes away, but then everyday something new is also born. About the time you figure your own situation out, it’s pretty much time to go. The next generation starts its experience, while the old generation (if you’re lucky to find one concerned enough) tries to teach a few lessons learned. You can only do so much though. They can’t teach you everything, because it isn’t even possible to articulate everything—and life never stops long enough for a proper reflection. Struggle gives way to struggle.

Even if you wrote it all down and made somebody read it, he or she would never believe you. It’s in the nature of the way things work. Speaking of which, the new guy at work hardly ever takes advice from an old timer, unless or until he proves through some very personal and hard knocks that the old fool was actually right. The new guy inevitably blames problems on the old guys who left or might still be there and tired, and especially on the poor fellow who used to hold his same position. The reasons become apparent only as you consider the world to be dynamic, even if it approximates dynamic equilibrium, i.e., the world is never good, bad, indifferent, failed or fixed once and for all time, at least not until the Second Coming. Even a status quo requires that there be deliberate and active maintenance.

Now all this might be discouraging if we lived forever. Fortunately we do not. Imagine if you got things to absolute perfection (as only we in the present can), only to see it fall apart again! Since we don’t live forever though, we usually count on making things just a little bit better than what we found it. There are fresh recruits on the way, relief pitchers and catchers waiting on the bench (even if they might be second string, as of course all new guys are). The nature of the way things work, as I’ve described, is why the price of freedom (which is an accomplishment of the Founders in their time) is eternal vigilance. Eternal vigilance.

Freedom can never be safe once and for all. Prosperity is never assured either. Fortunately the same guys don’t have to do it forever. They weather their storms and hopefully pass on the goodly inheritance. We weather ours too, different but oddly similar as if by Design. Which is harder I wonder? The Revolution; the War Between the States; World War II; the Cold War; or the Global War on Terror? Which economic bust would you prefer? I suppose it depends on who you were and who you are. There again but for the grace of God go I, indeed in every conceivable time. Time isn’t just money, by the way—Time is everything you have. The line of time we’re on conveys us, and there’s eternal vigilance of a different sort to think about; that is, the vigilance of the soul. King David marked it well when he said, “My times are in thy hand” (Psalms 120:15) O Lord.

So this “New Year’s Old,” think. It is good to make resolutions and to rededicate oneself to such and such, or head off in a new direction if necessary. Think, however. Take a considered approach to life, because it’s all been done before. From history learn to have a healthy respect for the past, even as you continue to hope in the future and dedicate this present day to glory. If you’ll do that, you begin to understand your parents and grandparents much better and quite possibly your children and grandchildren as well.