Most of the topics that I write about could have this title. Taking backward steps is not our instinct. We instinctively walk forward. Walking backward involves a bit more concentration and caution. You must slow down and think. This mental, physical act is like the mental, spiritual act of repentance. Repentance primarily involves intentional decisions to turn away from sin and to turn to Jesus Christ in faith. Repentance also involves turning away from wrong and false thinking and living and turning to right and true thinking and living. Repentance is not restricted to a single event. Soon enough, you will be ready for your next step backward to prepare you to move forward again. Be patient and wise. “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”1 Keep to the old roads, and you’ll find your way. 2
I am in no way advocating for a return to primitive, pre-technology, or Victorian eras. Rather, I am advocating that Christians should use, decide not to use, or improve upon modern conveniences with wisdom and courage, and to develop such virtues in our homes and communities. When you meditate on God’s Word daily, things related to truth, goodness, and beauty begin to matter. How to have dominion in our homes, communities, and the surrounding natural environment begins to matter. When you look back and survey the wisdom of our ancestors, it is overwhelming the amount of undoing and relearning that many of us are striving for as it relates to caring for our families, caring for creation, and caring for our communities. But, if we are intentional about taking one step back at a time, restoring wisdom and faith, and returning to natural living in our ordinary days, then there’s a good chance of making true progress.
In my personal experience, taking a backward step involves a lot of wrestling, journaling, praying, and conversations. I am usually standing at the crossroads for a few days or weeks before I can move forward. I have also been there for months. I call those seasons my 1st mid-life crisis and 2nd mid-life crisis. The three steps forward are the breakthrough to a conclusion about a truth, or a necessary lifestyle change, that involved turning away from, or cutting off, the old way of thinking about or doing something. Once I am walking on the good way again, truly I have rest for my soul, tremendous peace of mind, and a joyful desire to share with others, as I have opportunities.
Like Mole in “The Wind in the Willows”, we will know what home is, even from a long way off. We will know when it is time to go home. Home is where we remember what matters and can be refreshed and reminded of core values and virtues. Then, full of wisdom and courage, we will muster up for the next adventure that sends us out in the wide world, even if, and especially if, it is just down the road or in your own backyard. This cycle of going “home” is a daily pattern, an ongoing process, of returning to God’s Word, spending time in prayer, and, by His grace, keeping in step with His Spirit and His Word. As we habitually go back, we will be able to truly move forward.
Pass the Torch. Leave a Legacy. Build Generational Wealth.
It is remarkable that common sense, wisdom, peace, and happiness are the continual outcomes of taking the time to do the work required to go back to retrieve, to restore, and to improve upon what has been left behind in the name of “progress. Since most of us don’t inherit generational knowledge, we must re-learn a multitude of concepts, practical daily wisdom, and skills that would have, in times past, been naturally passed on. From interpreting the constellations to cultivating the ground, we have been deprived of generational wisdom and knowledge. Hopefully, as many of us now are seeking out the old roads to walk along, we will be able to restore generational wisdom and knowledge. Hopefully, our children will be able to pick up where we left off, be innovative, and keep to the old roads.
“Fathers and sons (or daughters) are continually in view of Genesis. We see this not only in the genealogies, but also in the attention paid to Adam and his sons, Noah and his sons, Abraham and his sons, Isaac and his sons, and Jacob and his sons. In each case the son is called to carry forward the faithfulness of his father in new ways, becoming a new kind of person, and advancing beyond his father as new occasions teach new duties.” –Primeval Saints, James Jordan, p. 9
Making true progress will first and foremost require our surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives. Then, our wisdom, knowledge, and reason will be from Him and for Him as we live, work, play, and rest. With continual repentance, faith, remembrance, and obedience to Christ, our purpose and progress might just build the Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.
I believe this is possible if there is not only generational wisdom and knowledge to be inherited, but most importantly, if there is generational fear of the Lord to love Him and keep His commandments. Christians are entrusted with the sacred duty of paideia3. When you pass the torch, will they be encouraged, equipped, and empowered to fan the flame? Will they grasp it firmly and feed it fervently as they train their sons and daughters to do the same?
What will your next backward step be? Will it be related to the education of your children in a Christian co-op or homeschool setting? Will it be to begin the habit of family Bible reading and prayer? Maybe, you’re ready to make the switch from cooking with canola and vegetable oils to cooking with butter (raw when possible), ghee, or lard. Or, will your next backward step be to begin replacing, one-by-one, as you are able, the toxic household products such as commercial dish and laundry detergents or oral, skin, and hair care products that you currently use?
Wherever you are in this process, you are not only caring for yourself and your family now, but you are also blessing your grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on.
One step backward and three steps forward is a continual, ongoing process. It is a lifestyle of metanoia kai paideia.
- Jeremiah 6:16
- “You’ll Find Your Way”, Andrew Peterson
- Deut. 6:25, Eph. 6:4
Mama Lamb 