Elder Jeffrey R. Holland is an Apostle for my Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love his talks and writings. He reminds me very much of a Baptist preacher. I read a magazine article, this morning, taken from a speech he gave at Brigham Young University, that touched my heart. I will share pieces of the article with you, and the link to the entire article is at the end of my post.
He begins speaking about Lot's wife, who infamously "looked back," against the Lord's instruction, and became a pillar of salt. What did she do that was wrong? Elder Holland says, "Apparently, what was wrong with Lot's wife was that she wasn't just looking back; in her heart she wanted to go back. It would appear that even before she was past the city limits she was already missing what Sodom and Gomorrah had offered her. So it isn't just that she looked back; she looked back longingly. In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future. That, apparently, was at least part of her sin."
I am a live-in caregiver for a 92-year-old woman who lost the use of her right arm, in 2010, after a car accident, which wasn't her fault. Up to that time, she was very independent. Even after nearly seven years, she continues to look back, every day, with much longing, wishing that she was able to be independent again. This truly saddens me. There is no way to get her old life back. She also has dementia, so she is no longer able to reason or comprehend. She spends her days longing for her past life, unable to look forward to the future or think about how she can use her situation to help herself and those around her learn and grow.
The article then moves on to forgiving and forgetting. He says, "There is something in many of us that particularly fails to forgive and forget earlier mistakes in life-either our mistakes or the mistakes of others. It is not good. It is not Christian. It stands in terrible opposition to the grandeur and majesty of the Atonement of Christ. To be tied to earlier mistakes is the worst kind of wallowing in the past from which we are called to cease and desist. When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open some ancient wound that the Son of God Himself died to heal."
Elder Holland goes on to say, "Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change and improve. Is that faith? Yes! Is that hope? Yes! Is that charity? Yes! Above all, it is charity, the pure love of Christ. If something is buried in the past, leave it buried. Don't keep going back with your little sand pail and beach shovel to dig it up, wave it around, and then throw it at someone, saying, 'Hey! Do you remember this?' Splat!"
I have always thought of myself as a forgiving person. This article caused me to stop and think about whether I am a forgetting person. Today is my older brother's birthday. Growing up, I felt he was inconsiderate and unkind to me. I didn't feel we had a good relationship. After we were all grown up, I forgave him. However, I am not sure, now, that I have forgotten how he treated me, years and years ago. My pledge, in this new year, is to forget the mistakes of others. I am sure there are people in my life I have wronged, either intentionally or unintentionally. If you are one of those persons, please forgive me. My prayer is that you will eventually come to a place that will help you to forget the mistakes you and others have made.
Here is the link:
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/01/the-best-is-yet-to-be?lang=eng
Blessings,
Teah
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