Looking Back to Look Forward

In Roman mythology, the god “Janus” was believed to be the god who guided and watched over individuals at fresh starts, at new beginnings, and at all times of transition. Janus was always depicted as having two faces — one face looking backward into the past, the other face turned towards the future. This is of course where the hinge month of “January” came from.

What is interesting is, that the most recent research in cognitive science has found that remembering the past and visualizing the future use the same neural mechanisms. In other words, the very skills that enable you to remember your past also enable you to envision your future. 

It is amazing to me how our view of the past can indeed shape our future. We use what we know to be true from the past to envision what will one day be.

As we begin this new year, I pray that you would spend some time reflecting on the hinge moments in your life – times of transition or major change. What role did your faith play? How did you experience God? In what ways did you grow?

The command to “remember” comes up time and time again in the Bible. Remember the covenant… remember the things of old, remember how I carried you, remember, remember…. I have to believe that is at least in part because when we face trying or difficult times, remembering God’s sustaining grace and presence in the past, reminds us that we have all the reason to hope for the future.

Let us pray: O God of ages past, O God of years to come, we thank you for your faithfulness to us throughout the journey of life. You have rescued. You have provided. And, you have sustained. As we sit on the edge of this new year, we don’t know what the future holds. But we know that you hold the future. And, you hold us. Thank you, Lord. Amen.