Future Self: Teen Zine vol. 5, Chapter 3: past future?—rooted in the past
Juliette Alvey
Isn’t it interesting that the time of our lives when our brain is developing at full speed (ages 0-3), we do not remember when we grow older? Even though our memories from those years are few or nonexistent, that time made a big impact on who we are and how we relate to the people and world around us.
When I was a baby, I was very attached to my pacifier. It went everywhere with me. When my parents would bring me to choir practice with them at church, the other choir members discovered a fun game: They would take the pacifier out of my mouth and put it back in upside down, and then without even realizing what I was doing I would magically flip it back round to the correct way using only my mouth. This made the choir members break into a chorus of laughter, and in response to their reaction, I broke into a big smile (still holding tight to the pacifier, of course), accentuated by two very deep dimples.
Am I telling this story from my actual memories? Of course not! I only know all of these details from being told the story hundreds of times by my parents. I almost feel like it is a real memory because of how many times I’ve heard it.
Although I don’t remember, this experience is one that shaped who I am. Sometimes we think that the parts of the past that we don’t personally remember don’t have much bearing on our lives. But the experiences themselves, as well as the stories recounted by loved ones, teach us to love and trust others. Seeing faces light up in laughter in response to something I did gave me a sense of knowing that I could bring joy to others.
Teen Zine vol. 5: Future Self talks about our present and future selves being rooted in the past:
“From the time you were born till the present moment, God is shaping you. You are grafted into God’s story. Sometimes we get it twisted and think, ‘I am shaping myself into who God wants me to be.’ But the reality is more like the time you lived through as a very young child, which you only know through grown-ups’ stories. Just because you don’t remember it doesn’t mean the past did not shape you. In the same way, you may not have met Jesus in person two thousand years ago, or lived in the time of King David, yet those stories have shaped you too. Humans are forgetful, and we need stories to remember WHO our future self is in” (p. 76).
All stories shape us. When we read a book or watch a show or movie, we connect with the characters and imagine how we would feel if we were in their shoes, and these stories create empathy for ourselves and others. The story of Jesus, however, surpasses all other stories ever told in history because it results in eternal promises for each one of us. Jesus tells us that the life he lived, his death on the cross, and his resurrection were all for us! Jesus says in the very last words of the book of Matthew, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Jesus’s story is not just something that happened in the past, but he is currently sitting at the right hand of the Father and walking with us through life.
Our teens may get tired of hearing the same stories about their childhood and about the Bible over and over. They may roll their eyes or cut us off with, “Yeah, you’ve told me this a million times.” But rest assured, these stories will grow with them into their futures, and the news that we are loved never gets old.
