What Has Been

During my first year of teaching in 1969, I learned an important lesson in democracy. Unwanted jobs can often be apportioned to the most unsuspecting and vulnerable in the name of the will of the majority. As I sat in my first staff meeting ever, it was moved, seconded and resolved, before I could even think of objecting or declining, that I would serve on the Economic Policy Committee representing the two teaching unions in negotiations with the board of education. I observed at the table at my first meeting of the E.P.C. that it was not uncommon to combine several very experienced negotiators with a number of representatives with 2 weeks experience. Consensus was usually reached in a very short period of time that way. I attended monthly and sometimes bi-weekly meetings that year in the old Central Public School that was to be torn down in the summer of 1970. I never did observe negotiations with the board in progress that year. My memory of that old building is mostly confined to the basement which consisted of painted and unpainted brick and cement blocks as well as poured concrete.

I was amazed to discover this summer that some of the brick that surrounded me as I tried to concentrate during those evening meetings has a new home. That new home is in our home. The former owner of our house visited us this summer and in response to my question as to the source of the antique brick in our kitchen hearth, I was surprised to learn that they had been purchased at the demolition site of Central Public School and then stored for years until they were used. As I approach the kitchen stove, oven or microwave, I can’t help but think of those meetings in 1969 and 1970. I am also intrigued by a tar print of the treads of a work boot that remains on one of the bricks. I can’t help but wonder the age and stage of the man or woman who left his or her footprint in time 40 years or perhaps much more ago.

The revelation revealed by the builder of our house has also caused me to consider the relevance of the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1: 9-11.

9 ¶ That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.

10 Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.

Solomon’s disillusionment is somewhat sobering unless you read Ecclesiastes to the last chapter. Even in our home, we have a classic example of how building materials can go in a circle to be reused again. They indeed are not new and have been before. It is though they bonded with me and followed me to this house that I would eventually purchase. Even more disturbing is the revelation that the remembrance of what was is very limited. Except for my recording of some of this information in my writings, I suspect that the legacy of the bricks in our kitchen hearth will be lost forever with my aging memory. The remembrance of the person who left the boot print is already a vapour I suspect. Generations come and generations go. We are remembered for a very short period of time simply because those who knew and loved us pass away with our memory and we are soon forgotten.

In Ecclesiastes 1: 4 we are reminded that although generations come and go, the earth remains forever. I like to take this one step further. God remains forever. Jesus Christ remains forever. Believers in Jesus get to live forever in Heaven. When I consider the magnitude of His free gift, I am no longer concerned with how long I will be remembered on this earth.

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