It is easy to look back with nostalgia to a better time. I hazard that, for the reader, these halcyon days will be many and various. As I write this, there is backing music which takes me to my undergraduate days of 2008-11; a fun and fine time indeed. The music conjures up happy and joyous memories, in the main, but the odd one can take me back to a regret or a period of pain.

Rowan Willliams, the Archbishop of Canterbury before the last one, wrote the following:

‘Telling the story of God’s acts could display in dramatic form the consistency of God’s goodness. But because the human record is anything but consistent, the historical enterprise is always going to have an element of inviting wonder at the capacity of God to maintain the steadfastness of his work in the middle of earthly conflict and disruption.’

We all remember the so-called golden wonder or perfect child from school, and all know that the reality was anything other. Life is complicated and isn’t consistent. ‘The consistency of God’s goodness,’ to return to Rowan Williams, is to be rejoiced in. It is to look out with that found in the Divine, the source of all being.

Regardless of if times past were better, or worse, we find ourselves in time present. To imagine is one thing, and is healthy, but to pretend so as to delude, is another, and is not helpful. Our Lord was present at the time He lived in, and so were the Apostles, Disciples and Saints thereafter. I am sure S. John Vianney, S. John Henry Newman, and S. John Paul II had periods of looking with longing to a time past. It is comforting and reassuring but it must not become an escape; there is good occurring in every age, and evil has visited in every age.

This is pertinent because there is comment that the world is becoming a darker and less hopeful place. For sure, I left school with a sense that much was possible and open to us, so long as we sought it and had determination and charm. The music of the age reflected that. The Black Eyed Peas had the fantastic dance hit of, ‘I got a feelin, That tonight’s gonna be a good night.’ The 2011 hit by Flo Rida, called ‘Good Feeling’, tapped into the same joy and happiness.

I don’t need to list the various uncertainties abroad or at home, that could at present make one feel different. ‘A Church that reflects more systemically on why it should be grateful for its existence is a more effective witness to revelation than one that has ceased to be surprised by itself,’ writes Rowan William. One can observe the goodness of God through various and multiple ways; annoyingly to man and woman alike He is not constricted to predictable means. His goodness can manifest itself in ways challenging and discomforting, means happy and comfortable, and circumstances beyond comprehension.

‘What a Feeling’ by Alex Gaudino debuted in 2011. Trusting and seeking the goodness of God at all times, in all seasons, and in all places, is beyond what a feeling. It is more than a good night. Let us evidence this in our being here and now in ‘Way-on-High’ country.

Please God, let it be that the Blessed Saints, most particularly Our Lady, continue to pray for us!