An attack of nostalgia

Last night for some unknown reason I began to think about people from my past. Facebook allows the temptation as they find people who are hooked with my people. Memories are good, nostalgia can be less than good when you begin to think of what might have been.

For instance, I see pastor friends who stayed in the same church for decades while I moved from place to place leaving good friends behind.

I read about friends who spent their career teaching college age students and since I did that with great joy for a few years I wonder if I should have gone fully in that direction.

The cure for improper nostalgia which looks at the past with regret is to be thankful for the fact that your path is unique, and even if it zigs where other peoples zag, God was with you and you have much to be thankful for.

Then I look at missionary pictures of people living in cultures far less free, less prosperous, and I stop wishing for what did not happen and thank God for what did.