PHOTO OF THE DAY: SO LONG, 2023
This photo, taken at the 2023 Menno Pioneer Power Show, is included in this week’s Courier as part of a pictorial retrospective of the past 23 months. The Publisher’s Column touches on the photos and gives some perspective on time. Here it is:
The paradox of time
Does it seem like long ago, or was it just yesterday?
That’s the question I asked myself time and time again as I poured over dozens of photographs that were taken during the past year — a digital documentation of the life and times of our communities. The review of the images was part of an effort to provide a quick look back at 2023 for our pictorial reflection, something The Courier has been doing in its final issue of the year for as long as I can remember. It’s always fun to see what took place, even if the 17 images published on nine pages are merely a drop in the bucket in terms of the collective place and time that was 2023.
Time; what a funny thing.
The older we get that faster time flies, and I believe there is some logic to that. My 17-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son know life only in the context of 17 and 14 years, which I believe dramatically alters the perspective of the passing months.
When you’re 47 years old, time feels different.
Yet time is time.
Sixty minutes is an hour, 24 hours is a day and 365 days is a year, no matter your age, and whether you’re 2 or 82, there is a time to wake up and a time to go to bed. We take our time when necessary and check the time constantly, take timeouts when we need a break and aim to be on time when required.
We note the season based on time — as in when it gets dark — and recognize when it’s time for a change. We measure time by sunrises and sunsets, alarm clocks and reminders; we countdown the days until the next big thing and measure seconds in Mississippis.
And when it comes to the end of another calendar year, it’s only natural to think about the times we had over the course of the previous 12 months and try to put them in context; just what kind of a year was it? The answer to that, of course, depends on who you ask.
Most would probably agree that the last few years have felt hard — they certainly have for me. Yet there are those in our community who have been dealing with the worst possible thing they could imagine — and our hearts break in solidarity through their time of immeasurable loss.
Yet there is much to be thankful for, particularly when considering the world of privilege in which most of us live. And much of what I saw when perusing my computer files and iPhone camera roll for pictures from the past year made me think good thoughts.
It’s a good reminder as we speed rapidly toward a brand-new year, that time marches on even in the face of challenges and hurt, and we can each decide for ourselves how we’re going to use the time that we have. It is my wish that we all use it for good.
Happy New Year.
Jeremy Waltner is husband to Stacey and Dad to Ella & Oliver, who is looking forward to time away in February to celebrate 20 years of marriage.
