It's a common yearning—to return to the good old days. Times may have seemed simpler then, happier, less confused or frantic, better in almost every way. Unfortunately that's only a partial truth at best, and mostly it only raises false expectations.
The fact is, we can't return to the past. And isn't it so much more important to know what we're doing about the present and where we're heading in the future? That doesn't mean we can't learn from the past, because obviously we can, we should, and we do. This is especially true when it comes to basic standards of morality, personal conduct, and how to follow a way of life that shows proper care and respect for one another.
Lessons learned from the past are also particularly important to the religious thought and spiritual development of a people. Why? Because when religion is pure and proved, it is witnessing to certain fundamental essential truths of God and His kingdom. And something that is demonstrably true is necessarily eternal, constant, unchanging. Wouldn't a spiritual truth that had significance two thousand years ago remain equally significant in the twentieth century and on into all the coming millennia of human history?
