Leave the past in the past.
In 1948 Winston Churchill said, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
In 1905 George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
And if you do some Googling you’ll find hundreds of similar quotes throughout history. Usually shared by a figure who sees evidence of humankind repeating the past in some (usually negative) way.
All that sounds like great advice, but have you read Isaiah 43:18?
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”
I believe the word “dwell” in that passage is so very important.
[Dwell: to think or talk a lot about something, especially something it would be better to forget.]
Long before I started to seek more answers in the Word, I sought to live each day as its own lifetime – striving to leave the past with yesterday.
“But Lee you have to remember things from the past to not repeat the same mistakes.”
I am in no way immune to this programming (thats’s all it is).
But nowadays if I repeat the mistake I figure I never really learned the lesson. And if I go through a similar thing I hope it sticks this time. And when I find myself slipping, I correct it on the spot.
See what I’m getting at?
After now 5 ND experiences, priorities for me have dramatically shifted.
I do not lament the past.
I do not fret the future.
I live in the here and now that my past has fashioned and shaped me to be.
And I trust God as my source.
New people I meet won’t know the prior versions of me. All those old stories I have loved to tell live and die with me and those who were there with me.
Not because I’m ashamed of them or trying to hide – but simply because they do not matter in the present.
If who I am now is a product of my past, then isn’t that where today’s focus should be? I don’t need to explain how I got here or who I was to anyone.
I have already answered for the sins of my past.
Sidenote: I saw a shirt when I was out in West Monroe, LA with the Robertson’s for their 4th of July shindig that for some reason sticks with me. It said:
“Half Hood. Half Holy. That means pray with me don’t mess with me”
No explanation needed. Do you, boo.
For better or worse…
I’m me.
Love me.
Hate me.
That’s all I got.
