Fings Ain’t Wot They Used To Be

In 1960 Max Bygraves sung: ‘Fings Ain’t Wot They Used To Be’… about changes in clothes, transport, holidays, music… The world wasn’t what it had been.

Yesterday I went round to see Bob. Bob talked about his boarding school life in 1960… deep resentment and unhappiness… brutal punishments… incidents that today we would call physical, mental and sexual abuse… ‘Fings ain’t wot they used to be.’

Yesterday morning I met Jerry. We talked about good things in our church 12 years ago. We enjoyed reminiscing on good times – people, activities, times when our God blessed us… Good memories… ’Fings ain’t wot they used to be.’

I enjoy ‘Fings ain’t wot they used to be’ conversations about children’s television programmes… Magic Roundabout, Twizzle, The Woodentops, Captain Pugwash… indelible childhood impressions…

This morning I read of David and Ishbi-benob.

David had killed the giant Goliath when he was just a teenager. He’d built his reputation as a soldier and giant-killer. Now he’s an old man… still at war with the Philistines…

‘In the thick of battle David became weak and exhausted.’ Ishbi-benob the giant ‘had cornered David and was about to kill him.’ His general Abishai ‘came to David’s rescue and killed the Philistine. David’s men declared, ‘You are not going out to battle with us again…’’

David had to accept: ‘Fings ain’t wot they used to be.’

I look back an my ‘Fings ain’t wot they used to be…’ Successful projects… experiences I’ve enjoyed… and will never do again… relationships I’ve valued that are no more…

But I can’t live life facing backwards…

Musing on: ‘Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and pefecter of our faith…’

I accept that ‘Fings ain’t wot they used to be’… I can’t run as fast as I did… I don’t have the energy, the ambition, the stamina… but I can still persevere, focus on the race, and look to Jesus…