Some people never look back, and some do nothing but.  There are proponents of both dispositions, and 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 living memories- or nightmares. 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.  We can have peace with the past if we don’t acknowledge it. Look straight ahead and don’t worry about what is behind.  On the other hand, there is no surer way to be blindsided (or backsided) than to live blissfully in the day at hand uninformed by former days.

The past can and will become a 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, you know it mostly disappoints.  Yesterday’s gone. Yesterday’s gone. Often, the past refuses to release us through the haunting memories of failed deeds.

Paul said he looked ahead and forgot the past, but we know he was informed by it as he referenced his failures and memories in his writings.  Faults remembered can produce angst and undue worry while victories remembered tend to convince unsubstantiated prowess. We should remember the past as a cautionary warning and 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 others 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. Fear paralyzes and isolates. Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.      

Your past made you what you are.  While we might change past events if we could, there is no real certainty that today would be what it is apart from them.  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.

Looking at my life, it’s hard for me 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.

It will be tomorrow soon, and I will have a chance and obligation to fight again.

Sterl