Whitney Williams - An ode to the good ol’ days

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, May 18th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

If you’ve recently had a conversation with someone of a certain age you’ve probably heard him or her say that the good ole’ days were much better than today’s days.

Whitney Williams hears that quite often from her grandfather. It’s got him a bit down in the mouth. So, she wrote him this letter of encouragement which she’s going to share with us.

WHITNEY WILLIAMS, COMMENTATOR: Dear Daddy Dan,

A lot’s changed in the 84 years you’ve been on this earth, huh?

Long before refrigerator-freezer combos necessitated touchscreens, you anxiously waited for the ice man to bump down your little dirt road, cut off a block for your mama, and trade you some “Good Old Poly Pop” for a penny.

You reminisce with me about the day electricity finally illuminated your two-room schoolhouse. Back when social networking was listening in on the party line, and your Christmas morning consisted of fruit, nuts, and a new grass rope. “We were just as happy as a hog in the slop, you know. We didn’t know we was poor. Everybody was in the same shape,” you tell me. I can hear your smile through the phone as you think back on the good ol’ days.

Now, as you sit and watch mainstream media each day, you can’t help but lament over the world you’re leaving to me, your granddaughter, and to my sons, your great grandchildren. You’re frustrated with our current administration, you fear for our future. You feel you’ve failed us. That you could have done more! Should have done more! And you struggle over what could possibly be done at this point.

I beg you to turn off the TV. It’s not that I don’t see what you’re seeing. It’s just that I still see so much good.

Things may be going south in America, OK. Yes. I’ll give you that. There are more “genders” than there used to be. Who knows what will happen with our guns and our healthcare? Christians aren’t so popular these days. I know.

“But there’s still joy to be had, Daddy Dan!” I say. “Be not dismayed!”

No one can take away the Spirit living inside us, the sustenance of God’s Word, the coolness of the grass on our feet, the beauty of freshly fallen snow, the sweet coos of a new baby, the warmth of the sun, the crackle of a fire. Dessert’s not going anywhere for a long while, nor is laughter among friends.

I beg you: Don’t spend your final days lamenting. Instead, give grandmother’s hand a squeeze and thank her for putting up with you for 63 years. Enjoy a hamburger and a Coke with a friend up at the cafe. Be on the lookout for kind strangers, and continue to lend a helping hand when you can. Let the great magnificence of our God meet you in the middle of a thunderstorm, and consider that that same powerful, limitless God cares for little ol’ you, and your granddaughter, and your great grandsons—and He always will. Stop worrying about things you can’t change and consider our unchanging, ever-faithful God. Stop fretting over how bad things are and are yet to be for your great grandsons—they’re busy building their own good ol’ days.

I’m Whitney Williams.

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