This week I’ve been reminiscing a lot.  I am planning on singing my sermon this Sunday, sharing how music influenced my relationship with Jesus Christ and challenged me to be a better person.  As I thought back of the songs that were pivotal in my life, I really had to credit two specific groups:  The Imperials (with Russ Taff) and B.J.Thomas.  Their songs ripped through my soul.  They stirred my heart.  They made me rethink the way I lived, especially as a Christian. 

I also relived great moments of my childhood as my home church’s youth group (I was too young at that time to be a part of it) sang and performed the musical, Tell It Like It Is.  That one musical rocked me to the core.  The songs stuck in my mind, and the singers made me want to sing too…made me want to share my faith through music.  Unfortunately, as soon as I was old enough to join the group, it had disbanded.  I remember to this day, wanting to be a part of something like that.  Now, 49 years later, it still holds a place in my heart.

Then, my mind, as it often does, took a turn and wandered down another tangent, a movie starring Brendan Frasier called, Blast from the Past.  His parents (at least his genius father) were paranoid about the impending war with Cuba/Russia.  Because of that looming threat, he had a bomb shelter built beneath his home and had it fully stocked…stocked well enough to last the years of radiation that would follow a nuclear war.  Long story short, they end up going down into the shelter, thinking the bomb has been dropped, and lock themselves in for three and a half decades.  By the way, Adam, their son, was born in the shelter.

Fast forward the 35 years and Adam surfaces for supplies and makes a few friends, including the love of his life, Alicia Silverstone.  What we soon discover is the richness of Adam’s character comes into sharp contrast with a modern, selfish society.  In a world where everyone uses everyone else to get what he or she wants, Adam stands firm in his selfless integrity, doing for others even at the sacrifice of his own wants.  His sweet, innocent, and loving character shines as a beacon of hope for all.  Some misinterpreted this movie as a statement of how things used to be better than they are now and how everything of our culture is in decline. If so, it’s a dark and depressing movie.  But, if you see it as an inspiration, showing us that goodness can not only survive, but thrive, it becomes a touching and uplifting statement and challenge to us all.

So, as we all look back (often forgetting the bad times as we reminisce), let’s take the lessons we learned, the moments that moved us and use them for making the world a better place now and in the future.  Most great movements began with just one person.  Won’t you be that person today?  Then, maybe one day, years in the future, someone may think of you and the influence you had on your generation.  Be their blast from the past.

Mitchell