Olden Days
Last weekend after Family Camp, Linda and I went with Nicole and our granddaughters to a place a few miles from The Woods, called Pioneer Village. It was a step back in time.
It’s a collection of 19th-century buildings, most of which were moved from their original spots around Ozaukee and Washington counties, to form this little village of 1st-century European immigrant pioneer homes, barns, and public buildings.
It was fun to see utensils, stoves, tools, and other items that I can still remember my grandparents and their generation using. The girls were fascinated with how life was in the “olden days.”
But there were a couple of places that made us glad for the time we live in today. One was the outhouse. The girls could not believe that’s what the bathrooms were…just a building over holes in the ground. Smelly holes!
Worse was the dental and medial clinics (in the same building with the barber and seamstress). We saw the surgical and dental instruments, and read about the lack of antiseptics and anesthetics. Seeing those instruments and imagining the procedures caused us to shudder. We talked about the low age mortality rate and difficulty of life then compared to now. It’s easy to feel nostalgic and romantic about past times, but the reality of human life was harsh until the modern era. Just think about getting a toothache a hundred years ago.
As I walked out of the clinic, I said to Nicole, “If people back then could step into today, they would think they were in heaven.” Nicole responded, “And yet people complain today about everything…and are not as happy as people back then when life was much harder.”
That’s so very true. I think our cushy lives have made us feel entitled, like God owes us good times and great fun. We complain about the rain that gives us food, the parents who gave us life, the spouse who others would dream to have, the job that pays more than 90% of employment around the world.
Paul reminded the Corinthians that many Israelites were destroyed because of their murmuring (1 Corinthians 10:10). They were journeying through the desert, facing terrible heat, hunger, thirst, and a lack of life comforts…yet were condemned for complaining.
Your life is far better than the wandering Israelites, but you still find things to moan about? The pioneers of the 19th century would think today is heaven, but you still whine and complain?
How are we going to point the world to the beauty of knowing Jesus when we approach little inconveniences with such negativity? It’s why David prayed, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation…then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You” (Psalm 51:12-13).
Our witness begins with our gratitude and joy. Do the people in your life see it?