More than Nostalgia...

A couple of days ago I was able to take a quick walk down memory lane. Some of you who read this may remember me as someone who listened to at least one of these groups almost non-stop, but it has been several years (mostly because my car's CD player broke) since I have really listened to either one of these groups. It's funny how God refreshed my sense of amazement at some of the truth contained in these.

I don't know why I started to listen to DC Talk's Jesus Freak album while doing work around the house. To be honest, I probably think of them as a sort of "fun" band at best, not really something that would challenge me spiritually. Once again, I'm stupid. I was taken back to 1996 listening (on tape) to these songs in my '85 Buick Park Avenue. I remembered the impact of lyrics like "will the love continue, when the walk becomes a crawl? What if I stumble?" and "in my pursuit of God, I thirst for holiness, as I approach the Son I must consider this, offenses unresolved can keep me from the throne." There in my house, that truth really started to work on me and it was really great.

The other album I started listening to now that I was in throwback land was the Chronicles album by Caedmon's Call. They are probably my all time favorite band, and I remembered why. I don't think I'll ever get tired of songs like "This World" and "40 Acres." It made me want to pick up my guitar and relearn all the riffs and solos.

Overall, it made me think about how our past shapes us so intently, and how, at least I, can hardly remember who I was 5, 10, 15 years ago. Not because I am somehow such a better person, but because I just don't have a great memory. But God left me road marks, and one of those is the memories that these songs bring back of the challenges of the road we walk. I am challenged to remember that we cannot forget where we were, who we were, because that shows the reality of God quite clearly. As one Caedmon's song put it "I had to walk the rocks to see the mountain view, looking back, I see your lead of love."