It's been more than 25 years since I left. Back again today for an opportunity to look at life through a different perspective, tempered by time, I see changes and I see that some things have remained the same.
The sky was particularly blue this morning as I took the opportunity of the quiet of the day to recapture my youth.
On the outside, the church has remained largely unchanged. From afar, it looked like it did when I left; perhaps with different coat of paint, that's all. The tall bell tower and the fruit tree next to the church both look the same to me. As a teenager, I remember those times under the tree. eating the forbidden fruits of the tree.
The church had undergone extensive interior remodelling recently and how different it looked. Gone were the noisy fans, now replaced by a quiet air-conditioning system. Even the altar has changed. The pews I knew as a child have been replaced.
Some things, though, remained unchanged. The two murals at the sanctuary looked like what I have always known them to be. The huge bells in the bellfry still sound the same.
Some things do remain unchanged. Over the years.
Out in the back of the church, the old cemetery still stands, forlorn and neglected. No one has been buried here for some thirty years. In the early morning quiet, the dew still on the leaves, the gravestones stand cold and silent. Forgotten, neglected, abandoned. I wonder when was the last time anyone had stepped into the cemetery to visit the graves of their loved ones.
And as I look at my own life, I wonder how much of me has changed on the outside and how much of me has changed on the inside. How much has changed for the better; how much has been neglected.
Today was a journey back into time; a journey in holding on and letting go. And as the month draws to a close, the journey was a fitting opportunity to remember and to reflect.
And if we do not make the effort to remember, how will we be able to help the next generation to remember?
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