Nostalgia as Yearning for Eden




I was speaking with my fiancée’s father the other day and he is a man who is incredibly nostalgic and often seeks to recreate the past in as exact a way as possible. There was one time very recently when he and his wife, my fiancée’s mom, met us in Oxford because my fiancée and I were studying at Oxford University for the term and we went to a milkshake shop because my fiancée and I really enjoyed it while we were there. Part of the reason we enjoyed this store is because they had so many flavor options, probably a couple hundred options. Much more than a regular restaurant. My fiancée's Dad decided to get the butterscotch flavor one since that was his favorite flavor to get as a kid at an ice cream store that had closed down. As a result, when he actually took his first sip, he hated it because it did not taste the same as the one he had as a child.


This made me think about how common it is to be nostalgic. It seems to be a universal human experience, as past events viewed through the lens of nostalgia seem to be perfect. However, what is also nearly always the case, if not always the case, is that the past we miss or attempt to recreate was not as good as we think it was. We seemingly, therefore, long for a past that did not exist.


I think, though, that within our nostalgia is an awareness of something really. Indeed, something truly or ultimately real. Not merely something that we hope will occur in the future, but something that really did exist in the past. The place, or state, or time is Eden. Our first, truly perfect home where we had all we could ever desire.


Now, this may come off as wishful thinking, but as Aristotle says “nature does nothing in vain” (Gottlieb & Sober). Moreover, from the Christian perspective, Eden was real. In what way is not certain, but it most certainly was real and so when we feel nostalgic, or long to recreate the past, we should think of Eden and understand it as the perfect place we originally came from, but also as our final, blissful destination.


God Bless you.


Works Cited


    Gottlieb, P., & Sober, E. (1998). (PDF) Aristotle on “Nature does nothing in vain.” Aristotle on “Nature Does Nothing in Vain.” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319381399_Aristotle_on_Nature_Does_Nothing_in_Vain

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