Yesterdays

This picture is from the Glorieta prayer gardens last February.

I've spent the last two days at a youth conference where I've been hanging out with 2000 teenagers in the mountains praising Jesus and enjoying the Glorieta atmosphere. For those who don't know, Glorieta is a church camp outside of Santa Fe, NM; I would go to Glorieta as a teenager for youth camp, and being there again always brings up memories of the 20 to 30 some odd times I've gotten to spend there (that's not nights - that's trips). The grounds look the same, the sanctuary feels the same, and I even think there is the same little lunch lady who takes up meal tickets. I don't even think it would surprise me to learn they are just reheating the leftovers they cooked when I was first there 22 years ago - it certainly still tastes the same.

Finding myself lost in 22 years of Glorieta memories made me think of this song, Yesterday, by the band Mainstay. Here are the simple and short lyrics to this song:

Watch my mind grow legs and wander
What did I expect to find out here?

I am only halfway here tonight
Say that You can take this off of my mind
Every time I go back I realize
that yesterday is never as good as it seems

I'm lost in the feelings that I thought were gone
Come in and make all of their light fade out - it fades out

I am only halfway here tonight
Say that You can take this off of my mind
Every time I go back I realize
that yesterday is never as good as it seems
Make their light fade out

I love these simple lyrics, but I love the explanation of the song given by one of the band members even more. Before this quote begins, Justin has been talking about how we all try to escape reality in one way or another. He writes:

My preferred method of escapism is nostalgia. Thinking about yesterday and how great things were is very comforting. It's also heartbreaking when dwelt upon. I think at times we all feel "halfway here" because our hearts aren't contented in the moment, and that cold distance is a place where I am more than guilty of living. The truth is, the past is never as good as the movie in our mind. Things were never that good, and ironically enough, I was probably thinking about another yesterday at THAT point in my life too. Learning at every moment to be satisfied in who Christ is for us is the way to disarm our self-pitying reflection. Paul said he had "learned the key to being content in all circumstances...having much or little" - I think Paul was focused in a way that we all should strive for.
- Justin Anderson (Mainstay)

That's a great lesson I needed on a nostalgic weekend like I just had.