We cannot afford to forget any experience, even the most painful. (Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings, 1951).
I was re-reading Markings, and I was stuck by the above quote. I have had several conversations in the past few weeks with people who have either refused to deal with the events/ mistakes of the past, or alternately, who seem completely victimized by the past. St. Paul tells us to forget what lies behind and to strive for the prize that lies ahead (Phil. 3:13). These two admonitions, one the voice of the Apostle, the other the wise counsel of a world leader, seem to contradict one another. I would argue that both are profoundly true. To dwell on the past, whether on its pain or its triumphs, cripples the present and robs it of its immediacy and promise. We stand always at a crossroads. Choices lie before us that determine our future. St. Paul reminds us that we are to keep our eyes fixed on the ultimate prize, the one that always lies before us, the fulfillment of our calling in Christ Jesus.
For Christians, each moment is redeemed by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why Paul can write that all things work to the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28). Even tragedy has the potential to be transformed. Life shows us that such occasions also have the power to destroy. It is faith that makes the difference.
Mature faith never underestimates the power of the past. Experience is the wise counselor that warns us of danger. It is also the voice of encouragement, sometimes softly heard, sometimes a shout in our ear. St. Paul warns us of the dangers of being ruled by the past. Dag Hammarskjöld warns us that to ignore the past is to rob ourselves of one of life’s most important counselors, even as he also cautions us not to ignore the distortions in the “mirror of yesterday.”
One path leads to slavery, the other to freedom. The difference between the two is grace. It is grace that redeems the past and robs it of its power over us. It is grace that illumines what might yet still be. It is grace that empowers us to act for that future. It is for this freedom to act, Paul writes, that Christ has set us free. And this freedom is life in the Spirit. It is living in the past that St. Paul rejects. He urges us to live into our future secure in the knowledge that those who follow the Spirit do indeed have the power to remember the past, even while transcending it.
