My thinking has changed.
I’m in a calm reflective mood this morning after a worhip filled/laughter filled long day yesterday spent with people all day. Now I’ve pulled back into my inner self and in pondering some thoughts of others, as I have been for several days, my thinking has changed.
I wrote in my Friday’s post that I was going to be sharing some excerpts from a year ago through Katrina in the days to come. Because of the comment Greg England made, which I’ve been seriously considering since, I don’t think I will. (Didn’t know you had it in you Greg, did you? – to make someone else think seriously and ponder your potent words?!)
Here’s part of Greg’s comment, speaking of what I said about Katrina:
Those traumatic events in life are difficult, if not impossible, to remove from our emotional savings accounts. But we do move on with our lives.
Greg did not include the words "need to," as in, we do need to move on with our lives, but I, for one, felt they were implied, or should have been.
I do not want my life so tied to the past that I cannot see the present or the future.
Many people do that, I think. In their need to remember, not forget, they embrace the loss so fiercely they become entangled in it. It ensnares them, robbing them of any further joy in life. I’m not discounting or dismissing loss and sorrow by any means. I have been – at times – consumed by loss and sorrow. We all have.
As the young minister so eloquently and powerfully expressed it yesterday in both sermons, if we love, we can be – will be – tragically struck and burned with "rivets of grief," as can God. (He told me last night he’d borrowed it from a much older minister, but that’s good I think. Beautiful imagery and he used it well.)
But we scar up. We heal. We go on.
We must not let the wounds fester so that we are immersed by them.
And here, in the perceptive, insightful thoughts of a man I only know through his words, although he was married to my beautiful cousin, is what should happen. How we must live.
I hope "W" won’t mind me sharing this email he sent me on Good Friday of this year about my post of that day.
It was very similar in tone to today’s actually, now that I go back to read it and "W" wanted to comment to it, as follows:
Dee
I try to comment/respond on your blog page, but it won’t use spell checker and with out spell checker I don’t do much writing……Guess I could copy and paste…..Anyway, I enjoy your thoughts and how you put them into words. It makes me think about why are we here, what is it all about? Why this, why that? Why can’t the world be the great place that we are taught and dream about in our youth? Why isn’t it the way mom, dad, our educators and leaders told/tell us about? Why do bad things happen to good people, why are we born, why do we die? My questions and thoughts make me long for the good days (like you) that have passed, but with remembering the past and experiencing the present comes the knowledge of how would I appreciate happiness and good if I didn’t experience hurt, sadness and sorrow?
So much for my thoughts, but keep writing it keeps me thinking.
W
Yes, W! Yes, Greg!
So I close, anticipating this sunny day’s tasks and events – looking forward to the good things to come. I do need to "move on with my life."
Remembering, but "with remembering the past and experiencing the present comes the knowledge of how would I appreciate happiness and good if I didn’t experience hurt, sadness and sorrow?"
Thank you Father for those who share with us their wise words.
To anyone reading both your blog and mine today, we did not collaborate on this. But thank you for your kind words.
Your words are so true. We had this very discussion in our LIFE group this afternoon.
Dee – I have tried to apply something I heard in “management training” that seemed very spiritual (although I never tried to see if I could support the thought from the Bible)
Anyhow –it seems to say something similar to what you have said here.
We should let our “vision” of the future shape our actions. Rather than – as we so often do –dragging the “past into the present” we should put the passt into the past and draw the future back into the present.
Maybe better is to say “Live your dreamstoday” rather than (re)living the pain (and mistakes)of the past.
Thanks for the reminder that life is ahead – not behind — and God is there showing the way.
God Bless
Charlie
After a week of fasting and a hurricane of mistakes David had made (that hurt so many people including the death of his son) we read…
2 Samual 12:20-23 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.
His servants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”
He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”