A thought by H. Norman Wright from his book, When the Past Won't Let You Go (p. 8). Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)
Yes we are, but...
Norman says, "But many live in the expectation of the future. For many, these two times are permanent. Do you ever wonder why we waste so much time not living in the present? 'Many are distracted by the there and then rather than the here and now.' (1)"
He goes on, "Consider the thoughts of a man whose past could have destroyed him: We bear the imprint of the past as it is, not as it might have been. What actually happened is irreversible, and so are the consequences. In that sense we are powerless. We can spend the rest of our days reviewing and wishing and imagining and scheming, but we will never be able to alter what has already happened. The past is simply there, influencing everything we do. The best we can do—in fact, the only thing we can do—is remember the past and respond to it." (2)
He continues, "Jerry Sittser puts it beautifully: The past is out of reach; we can neither return to it nor reverse it. It holds power over us because it is unchangeable, rolling over us like waves, one consequence following another. It creates the conditions of the present, whether we like it or not. Still, we have the power to choose how we remember and respond to the past, which enables us to engage the present moment in a redemptive way. (3)"
Norman says, "Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a way to fill the emotional deficits of our pasts and our lives without continuing the risk of experiencing again the disappointment and losses? Well, there is. And it’s actually risk free.
"I’ve often heard counselees say they wish they could either erase the past or restore what went wrong. Many wish they could overcome what they consider a wasted past. The past is a part of our life, and it can be used to make the present different."
He then quotes Sittser again, "It starts with redemptive memory, which enables us to remember the past differently—not as an ideal to which we would like to return or as a regret we would like to reverse, but as one chapter in a larger redemptive story we continue to live out in the present moment. God is in the past, however ideal or horrible; he rules over the past and promises to use the past, as it is, to work redemption. He makes all things serve his plan and fulfill his redemptive purpose." (4)
And this is a good place to start, isn't it?
Yes, yes!
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