Revisiting predestined 'Days of Future Past'

Rev. Walter Klockers

by Rev. Walter Klockers Immanuel Lutheran Church
| June 8, 2018 3:00 AM

What music comes to mind when you think back in time? One of the songs that I loved was part of the album, “Days of Future Past,” by the Moody Blues. It was released in 1967.

The concept of the album is to describe someone’s day, from beginning to end. Songs are entitled “Dawn is a Feeling,” “Another Morning,” “Lunch Break,” “(Evening) Time to Get Away,” “The Sun Set,” “Twilight Time” and “Nights in White Satin.”

That last song captured my attention. It was a melding of rock with classical instrumentation, and sent my imagination soaring to places I had not experienced before.

It was only years later that the album’s title, “Days of Future Past,” made more sense to me: days may be routine, with some degree of predictability going forward.

While it is true that aspects of our lives will change, the sun will still rise and set. So what is old will also be new. They are only separated by time.

This raises a question for me: Is our life somehow “scripted?” You can find evidence in Scripture to support this belief. As such, this could also describe an aspect of “sameness.”

Let’s entertain the possibility of this being true.

I have known many people that have expressed this opinion. All too often this is coupled with the statement, “There is no free will.”

This can result in permission-giving to be passive, an allowance to “just let life unfold” to see how the next part of the script plays itself out.

To me, I view this as either/or thinking that can be defeatist in nature, a sign of resignation.

It is better to see it as a both/and possibility; you still have free will to choose your fate which also reflects the script. Does that make sense?

You should not stop reaching for the stars, striving to be the best you can be, strategizing, planning, and working hard to achieve goals.

There is also the possibility that there is no such script. If so, where does that leave us if we have resigned ourselves “to our predetermined plight?”

God only knows.

I’m not going to worry about it. Those questions can be answered later, I believe. I guess I’m just predestined not to let it affect me? How about you?

Walter is pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church and has served as parish pastor for more than 25 years.