March 31, 1999
Talking about the past isn't always a bad idea
___By Dan Martin
___Texas Baptist Communications
___CORPUS CHRISTI--"Talking about yesterday doesn't necessarily mean you are old," Bill Howse believes.
___Howse, of Brentwood, Tenn., led workshops in the four Senior Adult Workshops held across Texas in mid-March. The workshops in Tyler, College Station/Bryan, Corpus Christi and SanAngelo were sponsored by the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission.
___"It is not bad to talk about the past," he told senior adults attending the workshop at First Baptist Church in Corpus Christi. "Everybody does it, but sometimes people think only older people do it. That is not so."
___He identified three kinds of reminiscing: Simple reminiscing, life review and informational teaching.
___Simple reminiscing is when we remember things in the past. Life review, he said, takes a skilled interviewer to help draw out events. Informational teaching is "great for Sunday school teachers, as they help us draw from past experiences and make them relevant for today."
___Simple reminiscing "helps people connect with their past. It is part of who we are, and it can have a positive effect of being a review of our life," said Howse, a senior adult specialist for the North American Mission Board.
___"It can have a healing aspect and can bring closure for some people. It also can solve some mysteries of the past," he add-ed, telling the story of the woman who always cut off the end piece of a ham be-fore cooking it. That was the way it had always been done, but she didn't know why. When she asked her mother, she was told the ham was cut that way in order to fit the only pan available.
___Howse, a native Texan, said reminiscing can be a ministry, particularly in nursing homes and other places where people are lonely.
___"Helping people reminisce can be an affirmation of all we are. It can help us express who we are and the worth of our lives. It also can help bring family and friends together."Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!