What Will You Do With 1927?

This was the final creative writing piece that I hadn't shared yet. After a two month span of posting nothing, I guess it is high time I post it.

What Will You Do With 1927?

Working in the library has certain perks. One of which is that I have access to the basement periodicals storeroom, where we keep lots and lots of really old Adventist magazines and also the cryogenically frozen James White. I’m talking about the Southern Accent from 1945, The Signs of the Times from 1918, and the Review and Herald from 82 B.C.

That’s why I was down there last night. Someone from another Adventist library was looking for a particular article by a particular author from Signs of the Times, but didn’t know what year this article was written in. We narrowed it down to before 1945 because that was when the author died. This meant I had to look through all of the pre-1945 issues of Signs of the Times in search of this article.

I don’t think my boss knew what she was doing when she gave me this assignment. I enjoyed it far too much and got very little work done. You see, when I discover an article about the Adventist perspective of Calvin Coolidge’s inaugural address, I’m going to have to read it, all of it. Or an article about whether women should be allowed to smoke, accompanied by a picture of some 20’s flapper smoking a cigar that would make Colombo blush, I’m going to have to read that too. I’m weird that way.

Nearly every article was fascinating. These were magazines that my great-grandfather could have and probably did read as a young man, between milking cows by hand and plowing fields with a horse-drawn plow.

I learned a lot about the past that night. Some things have changed dramatically, while others are largely the same. They had a lot of the same problems we did, although many to a lesser degree. A 1923 article about divorce explained in loud bold letters the horror of a one in every eight marriage divorce rate. That actually sounded pretty reasonable to my jaded, 21^st century mindset, where we have a marriage failure rate of about one in every two. Another article talked about Hollywood sleaze, sex, violence, and its affect on people. The scary thing is that it was written in 1925, and the “movies” they were talking about were silent films in the vein of Charlie Chaplain, The Little Rascals, and early Laurel and Hardy. If only they could see us now, I wondered. How far have we fallen?

Looking back with today’s knowledge was bizarre. A 1928 article detailed the unveiling of a Japanese monument commemorating Admiral Perry’s 19^th century expedition to Japan. It showed an American flag and the flag of Imperial Japan flying side by side. It talked about how this monument would lead to a new friendship between the two countries. Would they have believed me about Pearl Harbor and the A-bomb if I told them? I wondered. There was also much talk of what they called the “Great War” and how they must be vigilante lest it happen again. World War I was still very fresh in their minds, and despite all their rhetoric about peace and vigilance many young parents reading these articles would eventually see their children fight and die in World War II.

The article that impacted me the most, however, was one titled What Will You Do With 1927? It was written at the end of 1926 and it was some sort of end of the year devotional. It said things like “Doubtless there are a hundred spots in the pathways of 1926 that you would retrace…but alas, the clock never turns backward. The past has passed, forever!” and “1927. Do you want to live its three hundred and sixty-five days so that when December 31 comes around you will have no regrets?” and “Keep your sins forgiven in 1927” and “The year 1927 may be the beginning of eternity for you…” and finally “…choose Jesus in 1927!”

Oddly enough, if you substitute 2007 for 1927 the entire article becomes relevant to today. It was upon understanding this that I came face to face with my own mortality. That had never happened in the library before, and it was eerie. Chances are that basically every person who read that article in 1926 is dead now. Did they choose Jesus in 1927? In 1938? In 1952? In 1975? In 1992? Did they live their remaining days with no regrets?

Then I realized that I too will likely one day look back on my life and wonder if I did all that I could for Christ. I know I’m not going to lie on my death bed and regret I hadn’t spent more time watching TV, or on the internet, or pursuing selfish goals. Nobody ever looks back and says, “Boy did I ever watch some good TV in my day!” So why do I do these things?

No, if I have any regrets, it will be because I didn’t live like a Christian should, or I wasn’t the best husband and father I could have been, or I selfishly squandered my time on Earth chasing vain pursuits. The words of Ecclesiastes came to mind…Vanity of vanities…all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Logically, we as Christians should live for Heaven. The only thing that we can take with us to heaven is other people. Everything else is mere grasping for the wind. Jesus spent great amounts of his time helping and witnessing to other people, and when he wasn’t doing that he was resting or communing with God. If all Christians spent their time so unselfishly, how much more effective would our witness be?

Many families fall apart because they don’t spend time with each other. Workaholics, dads who spend more time on their computers than with their wives and children, mothers who let the television baby-sit for them, these stories are all over. Is it any wonder the divorce rate has quadrupled in the last 80 years? Time management is imperative in families, and I pray that God will mold me into a man that will put God and family first.

But it isn’t easy to just throw everything else aside. This isn’t to say I think a little meaningless entertainment is bad, as long as it is kept in balance and in priority with the things that really matter.

Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. In other words, our hearts are in what we spend our time with. There are days when I feel too tired to get out of bed in time to do devotions, yet still find time to check my email or Myspace.

And I need to stop that, I resolved right there in the middle of the library. How are you managing your time? What are you doing with 2007? Are you living for Jesus? There is little that is worse than a wasted life. Live so that when you make it to your death bed, you can lean back and say to yourself “Yes…that was a job well done.”

Perhaps one day, in 2087, a periodical desk worker in the McKee Library of the future may discover this article. At that point I will be either dead or 101 years old. In either case, live for Jesus in 2088 and say hi to my great grandchildren. Thanks!

“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12

Epilogue: While the author was composing the final paragraph of this article, his phone rang. Perplexed as to who was calling him, he answered and was greeted with a familiar southern drawl. “Hello Benjeeeemen, this is Betty down at Blood Assurance, we’re low on O negative blood raught now and could really use yer help…” said the voice on the other end. He knew that the blood bank wanted him to donate. He has an uncommon blood type which is highly sought after for transfusions, because it has universal compatibility. He is in the habit of donating because he doesn’t think God would have given him magic blood if he didn’t intend for him to share it. Unfortunately, the author is incredibly busy, what with a movie project, two essays, a portfolio, soccer games, and creative writing assignments. He was about to tell Betty of Blood Assurance that he didn’t have the time to help her out when he realized his hypocrisy and signed up for a Friday appointment.