As soon as we are born it seems we begin looking ahead so we can one day look back.

The doctors begins marking milestones on the growth charts, mommies and daddies keep locks of hair and record all our “firsts” in baby books, or at least they used to. I guess there are apps for that now. Regardless of how it is recorded it is fun to look back from time to time and see when our kids, or even each one of us in childhood, first slept through the night, lost our first tooth, said our first word or took our first step.

Today on social media, you can use a “Time Hop” and look back at what you posted on a certain date or occasion and post it to your time line. It can be fun to see how people have changed in a few years or what might have been happening in the world even a year ago.

Many times on a Google login or in the media, we mark certain dates like Black Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1929; the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941; the end of World War II on Sept. 2, 1945; the attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Western Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.

Looking back at the history of our world and of our personal lives helps each of us examine our rootedness in time and space. It can help us physically, mentally and spiritually  move forward.

A little look into the past can help us learn from our mistakes, celebrate our successes, correct our failures, heal our wounds, adjust our thinking, grow in wisdom and even change our paths.

Of course the older we are the more we have to look back on, which is a blessing (even though some say it’s a curse too.)  Thanks to technology though, older folks aren’t the only ones able to appreciate preserving the past.  Technology has helped younger people appreciate the wisdom and lessons from the past. Through smart phones and web browsing they have the realization that a look back can help shape a better world by utilizing foundations of the past to build a better future while at the same time, eliminating the perpetuation of history’s darkest mistakes and attitudes.

Preserving the past is good for our lives of faith too. As Catholics we can immediately point to our roots. We know the faith began with Jesus Christ and His command to His trusted Apostle Peter to “build my church.” If you have the honor and privilege to visit Rome or the Holy Land, you will be surrounded by reminders of the past and the history of our church and faith. Thankfully, the stories of our Catholic past are carved in stone, painted in pictures on walls and ceilings and written in volumes filling libraries and archives in so many places in the world.

The Rockford Diocese is no exception to this. Our diocesan roots have been recorded in four different history books and have been electronically preserved for the generations that will come after us. In these volumes we see how our local church began and how it was shaped by the geography, climate and societal attitudes beyond its boundaries. Of course our history continues to be written with each passing day and it is important to somehow preserve that ongoing story.

Here at The Observer that is part of our job … recording the life of the church and sharing the ongoing stories of its teaching and people. In doing this, we must also take responsibility to preserve those stories for all the reasons I have mentioned.

That is why we began the Preservation Project. If you received a subscription renewal in the mail, you also received information about our ongoing effort to digitize every single copy of The Observer for safe keeping.  Our newspapers, dating back to 1935, are crumbling. The microfilm has faded and we are being proactive in avoiding losing the life and legacy of our Catholic faith as recorded in our diocesan newspaper for more than 80 years. We have received some very generous donations and I am so grateful to all those donors who, so far, have helped us preserve The Observer up to 1947.

But there is more to do. So if you would like to browse the past preserved for you so far, please visit http://www.obs.stparchive.com. There is also more information about how you can help complete this project. Your gift in any dollar amount helps us save a past that belongs to you. Help us save your past, your stories and your faith so we can all pass it on.