Ancient Roman mythology didn’t especially excite me hack in my now-distant school days. But as the years slipped by l became somewhat fascinated with old Janus, the god of portals and of good beginnings and endings. You will remember that Janus tfor whom the month of January was named. by the wayt was pictured as having two faces that looked in opposite directions. One face peered into the past; the other into the future. it was interesting symbolism. Janus. of course. didn’t have a monopoly on looking backward and forward l suppose heeding the lessons of history as well as signs of the future might be considered sound wisdom an any age. Some folks. however. aren’t especially given to looking m multi-directions. How often have you heard such admonittons as “Never look back” and “Let tomorrow take care of itseli7” Poet John Greenleaf Whittier seemed to place full faith in the present in these lines: “Nn longer forward nor behind l look in hope or tear; But gratetul. take the goodl find. The best of now and here.” On the other hand. the philosophy of looking lorward and backward. reminiscent of Janus. isn’t neglected in our day. Note it in such expressions as these. “The future belongs to those who prepare for it.” nl-listories can make men wise? “The past is but the beginning.” “lt you don’t think about the future you won’t have one.” It isn’t uncommon for teachers, statesmen. writers and others to tie past. present and luture together in some approprlate manner. A lew examples: A former English professor of mine. the late Lucy A. Phillips. was fond of counselmg students to remember the past and keep their eyes on the tuture as they strived to make the present happy and fulfilling. l think she was right on target. in a speech before the House of Commons in 1940. Winston Churchill warned that “if we open a quarrel between the past and the present. we shall find that we have lost the tuture.” Folks preoccupied with family genealogy and histories might find special meaning in this observation by Edmund Burke: “People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” Poet Eugene bee Hamilton put exceedingly heavy emphasis on the past in these lines, apparently with the thought that the present and part of the future eventually wind up as history: “Things bygone are the only things that last: The present is mae grass. quick mown away: The past is stone. and stands lorever fast.” William Shakmpeare bad this to say “Past and to come seem best; things present, worst.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow put things into this broad perspective: “look not mournfully into the Past. it comes not back again. wisely improve the Present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy Future without fear and with a manly heart.” ‘ l doubt that even old Janus could quari rel seriously with that advice. X