When I was growing up, I loved listening to the "old people" talk about their lives of long ago. The best times were after supper (dinner for non-Southerners). We'd gather in the backyard or on the front porch. A symphony from katydids, crickets, and birds provided the soundtrack. As they remembered, there was always a lot of laughing, and plenty of smiles to go around.

I don't know how it is where you live, but we don't do that as much anymore. Everyone's in such a rush to "live life to the fullest", whatever that means, and when we find that precious time together, we're not really together. The soft light of warmth shared by family and friends has been replaced by the eerie glow of cold digital screens illuminating a single face.

Something else is missing. That special time to talk, open up, and share memories allowed people to move on. So many today don't merely recall the past, they strive to return there. For them, everything was better "the way it used to be." They can't look to the future because they see only the past, so they miss what God has for them now.

Often memories paint a better picture than it really was. With that as the standard, what chance does the present or future have? Living in the past, we can never get over anger, grief, jealousy, selfishness, deceit, slander, or hypocrisy. Sorrow and regret remain. And while God removes guilt before His eyes, many cling to it as a long lost friend.

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the American coasts from Texas to Florida. Deadly and destructive, it left thousands upon thousands with nothing. Homes, communities, and businesses were lost. Victims cried out for the life they remembered. The next year Jimmy Buffett released a song for them, but his message was probably not what they expected.

I bought a cheap watch from the crazy man floating down Canal.

It doesn't use numbers or moving hands. It always just says now.

Now you may be thinking that I was had, but this watch is never wrong.

And if I have trouble the warranty says, "Breathe in, breathe out, move on."

If a hurricane doesn't leave you dead, it will make you strong.

Don't try to explain it just nod your head. Breathe in, breathe out, move on.

Our focus must be on the now. Lessons of the past can teach us. Memories can make us smile or shed a tear. But if we remember only one thing, it must be to live today. Love each other, encourage each other, and be ready---right now. And to live today, we must release the past and move on.

The final lines of Buffett's song I find especially meaningful:

According to my watch the time is now. Past is dead and gone.

Don't try to shake it, just nod your head. Breathe in, breathe out, move on.

Don't try to explain it just bow your head. Breathe in...breathe out...move on.

With memories of yesterday and hope for tomorrow, let us live today.