What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?
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I answered a similar question a couple times. So, I won’t write much today. I don’t feel much different or wiser than I was 20, 30, or 40 years ago, so I’m not sure if my advice carries much weight 😀.
When I was young, older people would tell me to appreciate being young. They wished that they were young. Now that I’m old, I tend to wish that I was young. But it wasn’t always fun being young. But it is fun to look back. I love to review my earlier life. I look back on a different year every day – from when I was around 3, in 1965, to 2025. I kept a little diary in 1979 and 1980 – just listing what happened each day. I’m sorry that I didn’t do that for every year. I do recall moments, songs, movies, news stories from every year – but I’m pleased that I have more details on 1979 and 1980. So, I’d advice younger people to keep a little diary. I’ve felt like this since 1988, when I sat down and made a page detailing all I could remember from every month of my life. The funny thing is, every year, I vow to do what I did in 1979 and 1980 – but I don’t do it. But nowadays, it’s a little easier to look back, given that I can find conversations on social media etc. But I regret not having recorded my daily events 😀. Music has always been a great help for looking back. Here are two songs that bring me back to September 1979 and September 1980:
In spiritual terms, here’s what I might say. Opinions vary on religious and political outlooks. Sometimes we focus too much on aligning ourselves to a particular movement or outlook. There’s nothing wrong with having preferences. But our supreme goal should be to focus on Jesus Himself. Throughout my life, I’ve changed my political views and theological views but my relationship with Jesus stays the same.
I remember hearing someone quote the following verse in a Pentecostal church in Cork back in 1980. It seemed a very obvious statement, but for whatever reason, it stuck in my mind.
Hebrews 13:8
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.
And I remember the following prayer when I was a Roman Catholic. The funny thing is, I never linked the first and second sentences, but I can see what is means now. It’s a very ancient prayer – originating in Syria between the 2nd and 4th Centuries:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end amen.
When I switched from Roman Catholicism to evangelicalism in 1980, I remember hoping that I was doing the right thing. But the following verse came to mind.
John 8:12
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’
I was personally committing my life to Christ. That was the big thing. I started attending evangelical churches because I saw them as more closely aligned to the New Testament church and a greater help to my spiritual growth. I still feel the same, though I’ve always been happy to criticize my fellow evangelicals 😀. I’m particularly gifted at finding faults.
So, the key thing is following Jesus. Churches are useful for spreading the message and for meeting together and encouraging one another. The New Testament encourages church life:
Hebrews 10:24-25
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
But even in the New Testament churches, you’ll find plenty of conflicts and controversies. Thankfully, we’re not burning those we regard as heretics anymore, though Christians often disagree with each other. But ultimately it’s all about believing in Jesus. So much else has come and gone throughout my life, but I’m pleased that I’m standing on the solid rock:
Hibernia Gospel 