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Along Life’s Way
What Has Passed
Is Past
By Lois E. Wilson
I recently celebrated a milestone birthday—to me they end in five or
zero. My “past” is growing. D. H. Lawrence called us humans
“history-making creatures.” I’ve lived from the last days of Hoover to
Trump—15 presidents. There have been a few wars or conflicts,
disasters, and plenty of happy times. I have lived for a period of time
in three different states and six different towns. I’ve had jobs from
selling watermelons to being the assistant to a college dean, and
served on community boards and political committees. I have memories of
many family members, friends, and events that I don’t want to forget.
It’s been a wonderful education and experience. But it is the past. It
can be revisited through remembrance, but it is set and cannot be
undone.
The past holds many positive characteristics that are being eroded and
lost today. To name a few:
Marriage and a traditional family of mother, father, and children.
Home, schools, churches, and government working together to encourage
the family.
Less
outside influences to disrupt family values.
Hard
work and education of individuals to achieve goals.
Citizens being contributing members of the country.
Shakespeare in “The Tempest” used the phrase:”What’s past is prologue.”
Scholars disagree on its meaning. Did he mean the past is an
introduction to what will occur in the future? Or, as is now often
interpreted, does it mean the past defines the present? Buddha said,
“Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters
most.” Does history determine each day or do we have a blank page on
which to write a new and, we pray, a better story?
Of course, only fools ignore lessons that can be learned from the past.
In this context, the past is a resource for making decisions. But the
choices made are by people of the present. Therefore, we hope that we
and our leaders have the courage to make decisions that improve
society—not those that lead to its downfall.
I believe in the blank page concept of living—that each day is a new
beginning. We can learn from the past, and there is still time to
change the course of society. Who will be the people or what will be
the event that sparks the awakening to put the world on a positive
direction?
Each person has their beliefs. Pray to your sustaining power, mine is
Jesus Christ, to help guide us into a more moral, compassionate future.
I pray that 2018 is the year of understanding and the start of an
“awakening.” We’re history-making people—let’s pledge and follow
through to make decisions that will create the best “past” we can. Our
future rests on us!
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