Mudlarking
I’ve written ten books set in London, so I’ve visited many times, explored many places, and enjoyed historical research. One thing I’ve not yet done is mudlarking. To mudlark, you visit the foreshores of the River Thames at low tide, when everything is laid bare by the receding water, to see what fragments of the past have churned to the surface. Once you find something, you must decide what to keep and what to toss back.
Mud larks, named after the poor Victorians who scavenged for scraps to sell to avoid going to the poorhouse, walked the foreshore of the river looking for anything of value to sell. Today’s mud larks also look for bits and bobs of the past with the intention of tucking or tossing away.
In AD 43, the Romans invaded Britain, sailing up the River Thames. In the eras that followed—medieval, Tudor, Georgian, Victorian, and modern, among others—ships lost cargo in the river; city residents’ household sewage and rubbish emptied into the river; people pitched their litter into the water. Among those same rocks, shells, and sand, seekers find Roman coins, Victorian hairpins, clay tobacco pipes, and pieces of transferware from afternoon teas gone by. It’s beachcombing the past.
Although I haven’t mudlarked on the River Thames, I’ve done it plenty of times in my inner life.
During low-tide periods in our lives, when we are depressed, disheartened, disoriented, or discouraged, everything seems to be laid bare. Those are the times when I wander, in my mind, through all the eras of my life, the years past. Some things I yearn for; some I wish I hadn’t remembered. I pick up pieces of memories and examine them.
There are pieces of the past that are best left in the past: high 33waters, sweeping rivers, frightening fires. Sins God has forgiven and forgotten, and so should we. Difficulties. Betrayal. It doesn’t do any good to rehearse these; with our eyes on the ground looking for these, we can’t see the good just ahead. As the prophet Isaiah told the people of Israel, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18–19).
But there are also pieces from the past that we should pick up, clean off, and treasure, like Mary who pondered God’s wonders in her heart (Luke 2:19). Things like gifts, friendship, the truth that we are precious to God (Luke 15:8–10), faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13).
I must decide what to do with them. Choosing correctly is requisite to return my mind to high tide. So I seek His wisdom. “I remember the days of old. I ponder all your great works and think about what you have done. I lift my hands to you in prayer” (Psalm 143:5–6 NLT). Then I tuck away—or toss.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
PHILIPPIANS 4:8
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“Taste and see that the Lord is good! How blessed is the person who trusts in him!” Psalm 34:8