Take Me Back To The Old Paths

Take me back to the old times when families were intact;
When husbands were loving, wives were supportive, and children were polite;
When families stuck together in good times and in bad times;
When mothers could cook and dads would work;
When mothers would raise their children without house helps;
When fathers would get home early to see the children off to bed;
When divorce was unthinkable, and abortion was illegal;
Bring the family back together, I pray; bring back the emotional support, love, security, and protection that families provided.

Carry me back to the old times when humans were compassionate and sincere;
When friends were real and not virtual as on social media;
When moments with family, friends, and colleagues were cherished, common and sweet;
When jobs and placements were achieved on merit only;
When service providers such as doctors, teachers, and public servants, were honest, ethical and not driven by the urge to acquire personal benefit;
Bring back, I pray, the times when people loved the truth, and hated lies.

Give me back that old time religion;
When Church bells would so sweetly invite us on the Sabbath;
When praising, rejoicing, worship and singing was sincere and came straight from the heart;
When Church was sacred and was where to find Christians, but not in the park or in entertainment places;
When God’s word came from the Bible and priests were faithful and selfless;
Bring back, I pray, those fulfilling, devotional, healing and inspiring one-on-one moments with my God.

Fly me back to the old times when all of us were governed by morality;
When nature was pure before man polluted it due to his greed;
When we drank water from the river and not from a bottle;
When we chewed sugar cane, sweet potatoes, and fruits straight from the farms;
When conditions such as cancer, allergies, and heart diseases were rare because man did not lace foods with chemicals and poisons to hasten their growth and ripening, and to increase their shelf-life;
Bring back sanity, I pray, so that man stops being destructive, deceitful, deadly, and uncaring.

Give me back the old traditions;
When children were raised and disciplined by society;
When children would play away from home and safely get back home just before dusk;
When songs, plays and other activities were educative, informative and warned on the dangers of indiscipline and disrespect to seniors;
Bring back, I pray, love for the old culture, traditions, beliefs, customs, rituals, values, and norms, that governed our cordial relationships with nature, the ecosystem, and with other human beings.

But even as I seek the old ways;
Even when I miss the good old days when things were simpler;
I acknowledge and appreciate today’s advances in technology;
I appreciate the impact, benefits and opportunities that technology accords us today;
But still, I pray, that we retain the good ways, and paths, from the old days;
I pray that we borrow the ways and paths that will bring back the ‘old’ discipline, beliefs, happiness, morality, selflessness, joy, empathy, responsibility and compassion.

And finally, I pray, that we stop being the destructive beings that are so well described by Roger Whittaker in his song, “Make Way For Man”.