Don’t look back
A lesson I learnt early in life is: “Don’t look back!” As a child I ran the 100-metre race with my kindergarten classmates. Halfway through, I was in front of the pack whereupon I glanced back to see where the others were. In a wink, the others overtook me and I finished last. Weeping, I ran towards dad. He whispered: “Son, never look back.”
Biblical narratives and literary myths bemoan those who looked back. Lot and his wife are instructed by God’s angels to flee the sinful city of Sodom with the condition, “Don’t look back.” However, consumed by curiosity, Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:15-26).
Greek mythology tells of master-musician Orpheus who travelled to the underworld to get back his dead wife, Eurydice. Orpheus’ soulful music so moved the hearts of gods Hades and Persephone that he was allowed to take Eurydice back to earth on one condition: “Don’t look back until you both reach the upper world.” Unable to restrain himself, Orpheus looked back before they were out in the upper world only to see Eurydice vanish forever.
Jesus cautions his disciples about the temptation to look back: “No one who puts his/her hand to the plough and looks back” is fit for God’s service (Luke 9:62). Jesus advises us to focus on the task at hand and to journey ahead resolutely.
Pope Francis, too, recently exhorted believers “to surrender to God’s spirit who makes us walk and move ahead, pushing the Church forward.” He warned us: “We often don’t want change. We prefer the comfort of the present; worse still, we wish to turn the clock back,” and added, “God’s strength pushes us forward.”
It’s difficult to work with those who constantly turn backward. They’ll rationalise that they’re doing so for noble purposes: fidelity to tradition, deference to time-tested customs, respect for forebears and so on. However, breeding such behaviour is basically laziness, lack of initiative, dearth of creativity or fear of the future. Such people can be prodded to move forward. A wee bit of “those were the golden days” nostalgia is good, but too much of it smacks of escapism at best, and borders on neurosis at worst.
Mother India is pregnant with millions of youth who long to surge ahead with enthusiasm and optimism. In Sanskrit, we have the simha-avalokana-nyaya maxim (the lion’s looking back) which is generally understood as “looking back in order to leap ahead”.
Beware! Should your friends persist in looking backward, push them forward with my dad’s advice: “Don’t look back.” Truly, the past might seem golden; but the best is yet to come.
Francis Gonsalves is a professor of theology. He can be contacted at fragons@gmail.com
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