Looking Back Over the Years
Some people never look back, and some people do nothing but. There are proponents of both dispositions, and some validity to each. For some, everything is in the past. It’s almost as if nothing gone by has any bearing on the present. There are others for whom the deeds of yesterday or yesteryear are a living memory- or nightmare. Perhaps, we can be instructed on both points.
The baseball great, Satchel Paige, said not to look back because something might be gaining on you. There is some truth in that we can have peace from the past if we don’t acknowledge it. Look straight ahead and don’t worry what is behind. On the other hand, there is no surer way to get blindsided (or backsided) than to live blissfully in the day at hand and not be instructed by former days.
The past can and will, however, become our constant companion if we do not dislodge ourselves from its grip. There are, of course, some things we wish could ever be. We may even want to return to the past. If you’ve ever tried that you know it mostly disappoints. Yesterday’s gone. Yesterday’s gone. Often, though, the past refuses to let us go through the haunting memories of failed deeds.
Paul said he looked ahead and forgot the past, but we know he was informed by it because he referred to his failures and memories of events in his writings. Faults remembered can produce angst and undue worry while victories remembered tend to convince unsubstantiated prowess. So, we should remember the past as a cautionary warning or heartwarming sentiment but not as a living thing.
Time marches on. We do not have the luxury of redoing the done. Many are stuck in the past with its pain and lost to the present with its promise while some live in the earnest hope that tomorrow will be yesterday. One thing for sure, we will lose the future if we do not move along and none of us wants that. Fear paralyzes and isolates. Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.
Your past has made you what you are. While each of us would change some things if we could, there is no real certainty that today would be what it is without those events. Whatever your present, there is room to be thankful and hope ahead. Even pain produces pleasing fruit and gives nutrition to the soul. Don’t regret the lessons of life and pass along its teachings to other wayfarers.
When I look at my life, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed. I would like to have rung the bell a few more times and had my bell rung a few less. Then, again, I am grateful. I see my faults, but I also see my faith. God gives grace for the past, and I have used it. He has forgiveness aplenty, and I have known it. And it will be tomorrow soon, and I will have a chance and obligation to fight again.
Sterl
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