Transcending Past, Inspiring Future, Living Present

EVEN yesterday was perhaps a blight and something to be quickly forgotten. Something to be ashamed of, to feel guilty for, to be struck down with self-condemnation, if not another’s judgment — for not living up to a standard.

Such a phenomenon is likely to be experienced every now and then by us all.

We feel dirty or just like dirt. Our spirit within takes a tumble and we wonder if we will ever succeed in the slightest degree. The enemy is having a field day at our expense.

We are held inextricably to our pasts as long as we insist on remaining there.

By memory or insistence of consciousness, we go there, to where no sun shines; only pelting rain thrashes our worn exterior. Go inside to truly view the damage. The human spirit, a delicate instrument — a shimmering image of our soul — is dashed without consolation. Whether by rejection, ridicule or repeal we are strewn without hope when the sensitivities of the soul are carelessly treated.

None of us need to have been abused or neglected to feel the abovementioned burden.

It is part of the human condition — being human qualifies us for guilt, shame, condemnation, fear, judgment, and the like. We could have had the best of upbringings and we will still find it harrowing what the human experience calls us to endure. So it’s not just the abused and neglected that suffer. We all do.

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The past is important to validate. It happened. We were not affirmed or loved as we deserved to be; none of us were. Being parents, we now empathise. It’s impossible to be a perfect parent. In my parenting I’ve failed my children countless times, simply by what I’ve said and not said.

Now here’s the rub.

Transcending our pasts is no impossibility. It is no mere possibility. It is one sure probability when we are prepared to do all we can do.

When we have proved the power of God right in being able — through trust and obedience — we know we can do anything.

A vision for the future is something we can procure simply through wondering what might be.

Such a vision is nothing short of inspiring. And to go to great pains to bring that vision to bear upon reality is our quest. There is plenty to gain and nothing to lose when we jettison time for thought on our past and cast our thoughts upon the present — what can be done now.

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Feeling the hurt of God for how we were hurt in our past helps us believe in an inspiring vision for the future built on living in the present.

Your past does not equal your future. Your present is your key.

Our futures are always brightest when we view life through the perspective of God.

© 2015 Steve Wickham.