Nostalgic Scenes of Days Gone By

I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off on some path that goes nowhere. (Ephesians 4:1-3 The Message)

 

Nostalgic scenes of days gone by
Sheets and towels hung out to dry
Sights and scenes of days now few
I can still smell the outdoors, can you

Times were less hurried
And hearts weren’t worried
Others would simply stop to chat
When we didn’t give up because of a spat

When windows were opened and hearts were too
Oh I can remember and drink in this view
Come along and take a walk with me
And let me tell you how it used to be

This scene from my window took me back in time
Can we bring this back and quit being so blind
Could we slow down a bit stop and remember
What it was like to be a defender

Of what was good and edifying
Not death and disgrace and patriotism dying
Of family morals and kindred souls
Yes isn’t time we regain control

This land is your land this land is mine
Didn’t mean we would erase the lines
Of human decency and good verses evil
It meant a face off not accepting the deceitful

Answer me this can we change it with assistance
If you think yes would you help resist it
Would you be the change the earth groans for
A new creation more than folklore

Yes this scene took me back to simpler days
When we were taught not prescribed an opioid haze
When the great outdoors were free and fun
And our children were safe to play and run

Why have we allowed it to get so dark
Because we retreated from the devils bark
We thought to lighten up and not call it sin
Look at the dung heap this decision has left us in

I hear a roaring, saying My people You Draw The Line
So get ready He is amping up time
Take back my people and stand against sin
Where time was more simple it can be again!

© laurette laster

 

This morning when opening my blinds I was greeted with the view of sheets and towels blowing in the breeze, held fast with clothes pins attached to a clothes line across the street. I said, “oh Greg, our neighbor has their wash hanging on the line.”  I instantly remembered that smell, the fragrance of sheets and towels brought in from clothes lines. I also could see the scene that decorated neighborhood yards from years ago.

Even though my life was far from simple all these years ago, I do remember many days spent with friends and family members. I thought these family members had it made. Everyone pitched it on Saturdays and the house work and the laundry were done. Teamwork is and has always been important to me. This was from a time when life was simple. I was able to spend long lazy weekends at my aunt’s house with my cousins.

I remember many fun filled evenings of playing hide and seek after dark, the homemade ice cream, having to take turns cranking and sitting on the towel over the ice and salt until it was frozen. Running behind the mosquito fogger, (probably not the wisest, but hey we were having fun) and watermelon, yes with salt on the outside picnic table in the backyard. Memories of a time when fun was fun, but only after the work was done.

I also have another memory, one that isn’t fun or fun to think about. This memory is of a time when myself and another girl were innocently walking home on a warm afternoon. This friend and I were walking down a sidewalk on Broadway Street, about a block from where I lived. I was maybe six years old and the girl with me was about eleven or twelve. Two men in a car came around the corner and stopped just prior to pulling out onto Broadway Street almost blocking us from view to anyone on the street. The car turned and stopped abruptly, when the car door opened, and the man in the passenger seat was holding out a bouquet of flowers. They tried to get us to come to the car by waving and motioning with one hand while offering the flowers with the other. I remember knowing something wasn’t right. I get a sick feeling remembering this even today. I believe the two men were attempting to entice her or maybe both of us into their grasp and I also believe they had every intention of abducting either one or both of us. The year would have been 1964.

Days gone by, innocence lost, children at risk, crazy times that have gone extremely crazy, we are more in the need of the grace and care of God than ever before.

Several years ago a boss asked me if I thought hospitality was dead or simply forgotten because it was being ignored. I remember saying I believed it was forgotten and could be brought back to the forefront. I like to believe that if we “resist it” we can make our towns and our streets safer again if only for today. I believe if we call sin, sin and if wrong choices have consequences we can at least have a better existence, if only for today.

I’m very grateful for the sight of clothes hanging on a clothesline that greeted me this morning. What a pleasant memory of days gone by.

 

God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. the Lord cause His countenance to rise upon you and give you Shalom.

Until next time, thank you for listening with me. laurette