Hindsight is a great thing. You see things for what they could have been. Discover where things could have been changed. Learn from opportunities missed. However, most of the time hindsight is frustrating, irritating, and annoying. The people who are the great armchair coaches never played the game on Sunday and so speak without any authentic credibility.
Politicians are living examples of how easy it is to second guess what people face in the real world. They pontificate about missed windows of change. They talk about how problematic things are for the poor. They often suggest how society could be so much better if an institution was in charge. Dealing with the problems inherent in allowing people to care for one another in environments where everyone can win is never part of the discussion. Accountability on any level is something missing. Confronting real problems with equations of how things will fundamentally change are rare events.
Other areas of life are not immune from the syndrome. Those in relationships find it easier to look backwards and talk about what might have been than to look forward to face the future. Dealing with today in the context of tomorrow is difficult for all of us. The question always remains. What am I going to do with what I know? Can I accept and deal honestly with the present? Can I live in the present, responding to the opportunities that are already here?
The present reality is that we need help to live, really live in the next moment and in the future. The best help anywhere is waiting for our “yes”! In fact the offer stands quietly in front of you and me.
“Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you.” (Revelation 3.20)
Opening this door sounds easier than it is because of our bigotry and selfishness. Yet the opportunity is here for awhile longer. God deals with our future having already dealt with the past!
