Living in the Past

Yesterday I had a really random thought. Just one word popped into my head. I know for sure that by just saying the word that Dad, Caleb, Tyler, and Mom's mind will be filled with as many images as mine was when the word popped into my head. The word was "Langoliers"! When we were younger Dad was reading Steven King's book, The Langoliers. He found it so imaginative that he would tell us pieces of the story each night before bed (I'm sure he left out any horrifying details that would accompany a Steven King book). We were enthrawled with the story! Some time later the book was made into a TV movie. I have to say that it seemed a little cheesy...I think Dad's imaginative description of the story was better than the movie producer's. For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about...here's a synopsis:

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"The Langoliers" is a spooky yarn about ten people on a plane who awake to find that all of the passengers and crew are missing. One of the ten survivors is a pilot, and he manages to land the plane in Bangor, Maine. Once on the ground, the passengers discover that they are the only people on earth. And things have changed: the food is tasteless, the air has no scent, the beer if flat, and nothing makes a sound...except for the noises of the Langoliers--tearing away at the fiber of time! The Langoliers' job is to erase moments in time that have already passed into history. The survivors still exist because they were asleep when the plane passed through the warp, and they determine that if they can all be asleep once again when the plane returnes, they will survive. However, one passenger must remain awake--and doomed to die--to pilot the plane in its return through the warp...

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Steven King is telling a story that explains why time travel to the past would be impossible. There is a lesson to learn from this story! Don't try to live in the past (if you do...you'll be eaten alive! ;).

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There is someone (who deserves far greater respect than S. King) named Paul who teaches the same lesson. In Philippians 3:13-14 he says, "...Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." He did not focus on the wrongs he had committed in the past, but rather what he could do in the present and future to futher the kingdom of God. What will I do today to press on toward the goal...