As we step into the month of February, it has given me pause to reflect on the past. For you see, this month, I turn 66. Like so many of you, I find myself asking, where has the time gone? It only seems like yesterday that I graduated from high school with my whole future ahead of me. And all of a sudden, I blinked my eyes, and now I am only months away from retirement!

I did some research on my birth year of 1954…

Cost of Living 1954

• Average cost of new house - $10.250

• Cost of a gallon of gas - 22¢

• Average cost of a new car - $1,700

• Average monthly rent - $85

• Movie ticket - 70¢

• “Life” magazine - 20¢

Popular Culture

• “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and the Comets

• NBC’s “The Tonight Show” airs for the first time; Steve Allen is the host

• Marilyn Monroe marries Joe DeMaggio

• Elvis Presley begins his music career

• Dorothy Dandridge is nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Carmen Jones Popular Films

• White Christmas

• The Caine Mutiny

• The Glenn Miller Story

• On the Waterfront

• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Technology

U.S.

• The USS Nautilus, the first nuclear powered submarine commissioned by the US Navy

• Boeing 707 ( America's First Jet Airliner ) takes its maiden flight

• The first automatic toll collection machine in New Jersey

• The Rose Bowl Parade is broadcast in color on TV

• Swanson introduces TV Dinners

Russia

•  The world’s first atomic power station opened at Obninsk, near Moscow.

Germany

•  Mercedes introduced the 300SL coupe, with its gull-wing doors

More News and Key Events in the United States

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, rules that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional

• President Eisenhower signs into law the new social security bill funded by employers and employees

• President Dwight D. Eisenhower coins the Cold War phrase “Domino Effect” on the spread of Communism

• America does a large scale, nationwide, civil defense drill simulating the death of over 12 million Americans in a mock nuclear attack

• Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at an all-time high of 382.74

• Signed into law on June 14, the words “under God” are added to the United States Pledge of Allegiance

Popular Books

• Live and Let Die - Ian Fleming

• Lord of the Flies - William Golding

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - J. R. R. Tolkien

• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - J. R. R. Tolkien

• The Magicians - J.B. Priestley

Also Born in 1954

• John Travolta, February 18th

• Jackie Chan, April 7th

• Condoleezza Rice, November 14th

• Bruce Hornsby, November 23rd

• Denzel Washington, December 28

It is interesting and fun to look back. I can’t help but wonder what our world will be like in 66 years — in 2086. What kind of world will my great-great-grandchildren live in? I am sure we can’t even fathom what new technology will bring.

We like to look back and reminisce. We like to stand on our tippy toes and look into the future and wonder. In so doing, we must not do it at the cost of neglecting the present. We must not miss what blessings and opportunities the present moment offers each of us.

Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not promised. All we have for certain is the present moment. Live it; celebrate it; rejoice in it. It is God’s gift to each of us.

On this, my birthday month, I am reminded of Psalm 90:10 & 12

Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Blessings,
Pastor Russel