Restart

Off and on I post pictures from my youth. Throwback Thursday is a gift. What surprises me is how many people want to hide the “uncool” stuff.

I was not cool then. I am not cool now. I have made peace with this.

I am not ashamed of the dorky, geeky parts of my past, present, or future. I was in the band. I played D&D. I learned to code on a VIC-20. I also played basketball, football, and soccer. I studied Aikido. I climbed mountains and slept under the stars. I deeply wanted what I thought was a sharp manila suit. A friend insists it was yellow. He may have been right. I subscribed to GQ and read the New York Times.

Now I preach on Sunday mornings, teach religion at UWG, and write books with a lot of footnotes. Sometimes I use words no one uses anymore. My kids are mostly grown. I officiated one of their weddings and wept at both so far.

Life is good. And still, there is weight.

There is really only one part of my past I am ashamed of. Every time I failed to do the right thing. Every time I chose hard, harsh words when kindness was called for. Every time I stood silent and let evil win. Those are the things I wish I could edit out. I suspect some of you know exactly what I mean. But we cannot.

What we can do is press forward.

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3.13–14, ESV)

I am deeply thankful to our great God and Savior. In him, I am far more than I would ever be on my own. Washed and made whole. Still pressing.

The mullet, though. Some days I miss it.

~PW 🌮🛶