Don't Look Back?

"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."

Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Irish statesman, political philosopher

Truer words were probably spoken, but few ring as true today as they did when Edmund Burke spoke these in the 1700s.  Some people would say it is best to never look back, always move forward and don't dwell on the past.  This, too, is true, in so far as you don't misinterpret the instruction.  It doesn't say not to stay mindful of the past; it says not to dwell on it.  Like a child in a stroller, it is good for us to look back occasionally and keep certain, important, events clear in our memory.  But, the stroller keeps on moving forward as the child has no control over it.  So it is with life.  

"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory."

-- Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), writer, cartoonist, and "Dr. Seuss"

We need to see the event, file it away, and then pay attention to life again because time continues to move inexorably forward.  If we dwell too much on one thing, life will pass us by.  But, not to clearly remember mistakes of the past dooms us to the great possibility of repeating them in future.

"Don't look back because you might fall over what is in front of you."

--Kate Williams, age 7

Making my case would be Miss Kate Williams, age seven.  I not sure Miss Kate was privy to the great works of Dr. Seuss.  If you look back and fall over something you probably won't look back again, but the reason you won't is that you remember the last time you did it and fell.  Dwelling on it might cause you to fall over something too, if you can't chew gum and walk at the same time.  Better to just let it go, but, keep it close, like a memory.  You don't have to dwell on it, but you might check the road ahead first before you look the next time.

Hitler failed at this on the Eastern Front.  He saw what he was facing against Russia and moved boldly forward without reviewing the last great army to move against Russia - the French.  Although Hitler's troops weren't decimated by Typhus prior to the battle, as had the French, they were just as poorly supplied and, like Napoleon's forces, suffered miserably from the ravages of the brutal Russian winter.  The egos of the two greatest armies Europe had seen since the Roman Empire, were their own undoing.

Our past is etched into our skin and our minds, the scars we give no mind to until they are seen, then we remember, then we move on.  But if we pick at the wound, worry over it, it will never heal.  Our scars are our proof of life, our story, and our past.  Our scars remind us of things we have done and don't wish to do again.

"Each new season grows from the leftovers from the past.  That is the essence of change, and change is the basic law."

-- Hal Borland (1900-1978), author, journalist

Do we have to look back?  It is unavoidable if we wish not to repeat mistakes. But, then, we are only human... and there's that nasty little ego to deal with.

Note from Pastor Tony, the founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance, as well as the author and editor of "The Path," the Congregation's official blogsite:  

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion.  It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other.  An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion and debate in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth.  After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human.  God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.
  

Frank Anthony Villari, Pastor