December 31st, 2025

Remembering our past is important, but it comes with certain caveats:

• Looking back can sometimes lead to a nostalgia that rewrites our personal and shared histories—a tendency that is not only deceitful but dangerous.

• Looking back may coax us toward chasing former glory or reclaiming myths of previous prowess, which is a foolhardy waste of time.

• Looking back can become mere reminiscing—longing to relive past experiences or recapture fleeting moments—which is both faithless and naive.

• Looking back may mire us in old traumas, causing us to replay and relitigate past offenses, leaving us brokenhearted and perpetually grieving.

Remembering is important work, and it requires wisdom and guidance.

As we recall and survey the landscape of our lives—all the places we’ve been, people we’ve encountered, things we’ve done or left undone, the sorrows and joys, successes and failures, shining moments and moments of despair—we must remember carefully, so we may remember rightly.

While we excavate our past, we need the right filters to help us sift through and separate what must be retained from what needs to be released. Some memories belong in the museum of our minds—preserved, but not displayed in the everyday spaces of our lives.

Other artifacts should serve as markers—reminders not only of previous greatness, but of God’s present faithfulness and the unlimited possibility that becomes our future when imagination meets hope.

Remembering is important work, and we need a faithful Guide.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

As we remember, let us seek guidance—not only to honor the past, but to embrace the hope and possibility of the future.

Good morning. I love you all.

ihs,

just adam