Saturday, November 28, 2009

Slinking Away




Last night, our granddaughter was over, and I taught her to use a Slinky, which we had just purchased. Not the new plastic kind, but the classic metal one. What glorious fun! She loved it, and took to it very quickly. The girls seem to favor the old fashioned toys that have been around forever. They adore dominoes and Mr. Potato Head, and will play with these instead of new fangled toys. I've noticed that Hula Hoops are back now, too. Were they ever gone? I think they were; for a while anyway. Back in prehistoric times, when I was a child, the world was divided into two kinds of people. Those who could do the Hula Hoop, and those who were unable to and just didn't get it. We thought the ones who couldn't were hopelessy uncool. Now we are all remembering times when the world was a lot kinder and gentler. And I was blessed to grow up in thise times. Parents actually left their kids outside all day to play, unwatched! Back then we had drive-in movies, drug stores with soda fountains and lunch counters in them, and 5 and 10 cent stores (now replaced by dollar stores). There was no aids, no flesh eating bacteria, and food contamination was unheard of . There were no gang shootings. Of course back then we had no computers, microwaves, cell phones, or disposable diapers. But is this really progress? Maybe it's not such a good trade. I just read an article about things that will be extinct in the near future, and some are: telephone booths, cafeterias, ham radio, dial up computer connections, and movie rental stores. These things are all disappearing right before our eyes. So nostalgia is a big deal now. Ecc. 7:10 says "Do not say 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions." And it is true that we should be looking forward, not back. Ecclesiastes also says "What has been will be again...there is nothing new under the sun." And Psalm 90 says that our days pass quickly, and then we fly away. It's easy to let time "slink" away from us. So let's make our own past right now by doing what God asks of us. "This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark." Philippeans 3:13,14. If everyone did that, there would be no need for nostalgia, because the world would be wonderful right now.

2 comments:

Stephanie V said...

She's a doll. Isn't a slinky fun? I remember being fascinated with how they could 'walk' downstairs. This is definitely back in the dark ages. I was a great hula hoop-er. Should have stayed with it...maybe my waistline would look better.

SquirrelQueen said...

Aw, she is a cutie, just look at that smile. I remember playing with those as a child and I still have one somewhere around here.

It was a more innocent time back then but I sometimes wonder if it was because it really was that way or we just didn't hear about the bad things as much as we do now.

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