Tomorrow's Antiques Today

When we lived in the United Kingdom, one of my favorite stores was a place on the Ruislip High Street called Tomorrow's Antiques Today. The point of the store's name, of course, is that one would be encouraged to purchase a piece of furniture with a view toward enjoying it as a genuine antique in the future.

This idea of buying something now in order to use and enjoy it for decades is becoming less prevalent in our easy-come-easy-go disposable culture. And this is not solely due to consumer attitudes. It is obvious that many products - particularly those based on advancing technology - are designed (as well as purchased) with the idea that they will be obsolete within a certain number of years. Homeowners know that appliances often begin to fall apart or fail soon after the warranty period has expired. Likewise, fashions and trends change as they always have, and so forth.

At the same time, big money is being made in the sale of vintage articles - whether they be clothing, knick-knacks, or childhood memorabilia. We begin to think about that old 1967 Buick that we sold for $500, and wish that we had it back again. We're having a good life, but we hanker back to the "good old days" and parade the memories, photos, cassette recordings, or home videos again and again. And what fun that can be!

So where is this musing leading to? Just a simple acknowledgment that today is tomorrow's history. Someday we might wish that the events of today never happened, or that we could go back and change them. Or there may be many times that we remember today as a wonderful day and wish that we could re-live it. Either way, or somewhere in between, today has been a gift from God which we have used in various ways. And now, as we go to bed, today becomes part of our personal history!