• Let’s keep things moving, here •
[2½ MIN READ]
The final Donuts and Discussion event took place in mid-November when we gave out donuts free in the campus eatery (this iCandybyWangC.com website and for following). It’s to engage passersby for the purpose of making us in the club accessible as Followers of Jesus. Ben’s discussion prompt was this: If you could press a button on your life, which would it be ‘Rewind’, ‘Pause’, or ‘Fast Forward’?
Before I report which was the best tallied response, I’ll report that Rewind was popular for the students who wanted to redo past events in their lives. I resisted the urge to explain that button just allows a listener to replay, not fix (That function would be ‘Re-edit’.). Other folks liked the idea of pausing to give themselves more time to complete activities in the manner of Flash (DC Universe) or Quicksilver (Marvel Universe). Still others wanted to jump to the end as quickly as possible; that end typically being graduation.
Personally, I appreciated those respondents who said they would not rewind and change anything because it would change who they were. They didn’t want to do that.
The most selected response was Fast Forward.
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As far as changing the past, I’ve reached the conclusion that response is self-deifying. Do you really want to be in the position of telling the creator of the universe and the author of all existence that “God-the-Triune, You made a mistake”? “By changing my decision and action, I can do better than you for my life.” Yeah, I’m not comfortable with that.
The apostle Paul never expressed a desire to change his past. Indeed, despite calling himself ‘the foremost of all sinners’ for defaming the name of Jesus through the persecution of his followers, he was comfortable accepting God’s work in him (BibleGateway.com, BibleHub.com). Paul could also celebrate each difficulty in his life (there were many [BibleGateway.com and for following]). He could insist to all other believers that they celebrate in all circumstances.
My children would have selected the FF button. To help them think about that choice, I developed this statement: “Don’t wish for time to go either any faster or any slower than God permits. He will allow it to unfold at exactly the rate he intends.” I literally said that every time they said, “I wish [event of interest] was here.” Yeah, I was that father; proper grammar and everything. Btw, I think they turned out okay. Also btw, they are now young adults.
So let me point out to you first-year students who just started at Arcadia University, Thanksgiving is already here. Graduation is around the corner. Ask a senior about the passage of time.
Because I had to decide on one of those discussion buttons, I ruefully selected Pause. Still, I would like to claim credit with Paul for accepting every challenge and blessing God provides, at exactly the timing he intends.
“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 107:1 [BibleGateway.com])
Read past posts, including one about how to know if you’re a real follower of Jesus and another challenging a cultural notion about moving into deep relationship.
FINE PRINT *Thanks to Al Stewart (YouTube). [CCOmmentary #12 for 2025’11’21’F] ¶Text: Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
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