How can we learn from the past, if we 'let go' of the past?

[truthtripper]

How do we give up our past hurts to God, without losing awareness of our reality? How do we experience the present, if we turn our backs on the past? Without the past, there is no present.

[froz]

Hah your post fits with your name truthtripper!

Quite amusing.

But yes there are so many people incl myself in this that live in the past. It's so easy to do , ruminating.

[truthtripper]

Hah your post fits with your name truthtripper!

Quite amusing.

But yes there are so many people incl myself in this that live in the past. It's so easy to do , ruminating.

But why is it that the world's dysfunctions and injustices, war and poverty, slave labour, domestic violence, child abuse etc still continue. Why?? Humanity hasn't learnt from it's past mistakes and we will keep repeating the same mistakes until we begin to do just that-ruminate-delve into the past and take heed of the wisdom history has to offer us.

[truthtripper]

Hah your post fits with your name truthtripper!

Quite amusing.

.

Yes, well no one wants to face confronting, ugly truths, so we turn a blind eye(go into denial) to them and then crack jokes about them as a further defence.

[pureinheart]

How do we give up our past hurts to God, without losing awareness of our reality? How do we experience the present, if we turn our backs on the past? Without the past, there is no present.

 

Through forgiveness... keeping our eyes on God. Of course we will remember our pasts, but our past doesn't have to dictate our future...

[pteromom]

But why is it that the world's dysfunctions and injustices, war and poverty, slave labour, domestic violence, child abuse etc still continue. Why?? Humanity hasn't learnt from it's past mistakes and we will keep repeating the same mistakes until we begin to do just that-ruminate-delve into the past and take heed of the wisdom history has to offer us.

 

Because "we" don't have a collective consciousness. We are not the Borg.

 

Each of us starts off the same and learns the same lessons. Every 80 years, there are a completely different group of people, learning the same lessons.

 

We may just start making some progress now with the ability to share information immediately, and raise awareness about some of these issues.

 

But some of those issues are cultural and are deeply-ingrained in the people who keep them alive. It may take quite a long time to wipe them out - and that's only if something doesn't happen to make us start over.

 

On a personal level, you have to think of your life as a Jenga tower. All your past builds up below you, and you are standing atop the most recent blocks. Your past is all buried within the tower. Some of the blocks are crooked and a little rickety. Some of them may have cracks in them or be discolored with the shame of your past mistakes. Some of them can be taken out without tumbling the tower. And some of them become integral parts of your structure - you can't let them go.

 

But you also don't spend your life thinking about those blocks underneath you. To do so would be a waste of a life, when there is so much beauty and magnificence in the world around you, which you have carefully and slowly lifted yourself up to see.

[TheFinalWord]

How do we give up our past hurts to God, without losing awareness of our reality? How do we experience the present, if we turn our backs on the past? Without the past, there is no present.

 

You should remember where you came from as it will keep you humble. Remember when the Pharisees asked Christ how they could let a prostitute touch him, he said those that are forgiven little, show only a little love.

 

What you do not want to do however, is allow your previous pains to weigh you down and allow satan to use them to keep you defeated through guilt. As Paul stated in Ephesians, Christ has taken our weight and will give us the peace that passes understanding.

[truthtripper]

Because "we" don't have a collective consciousness. We are not the Borg.

 

Each of us starts off the same and learns the same lessons. Every 80 years, there are a completely different group of people, learning the same lessons.

 

We may just start making some progress now with the ability to share information immediately, and raise awareness about some of these issues.

 

But some of those issues are cultural and are deeply-ingrained in the people who keep them alive. It may take quite a long time to wipe them out - and that's only if something doesn't happen to make us start over.

 

On a personal level, you have to think of your life as a Jenga tower. All your past builds up below you, and you are standing atop the most recent blocks. Your past is all buried within the tower. Some of the blocks are crooked and a little rickety. Some of them may have cracks in them or be discolored with the shame of your past mistakes. Some of them can be taken out without tumbling the tower. And some of them become integral parts of your structure - you can't let them go.

 

But you also don't spend your life thinking about those blocks underneath you. To do so would be a waste of a life, when there is so much beauty and magnificence in the world around you, which you have carefully and slowly lifted yourself up to see.

Thanks for your thoughts, pteromom.

 

Re: "blocks", I don't mean that we should wallow in self-pity and past sufferings-

rather that we should develop our awareness of those blocks. Only by reconnecting with our pasts, can we make sense of the present dysfunctions in our lives-by connecting them with certain past happenings. For example, I have a friend who was physically abused by her father in her childhood. She has given her pain to God and has forgiven her father, but has been suffering from flashbacks and panic attacks for the last 10 years. I keep telling her she needs to talk about her past to process her childhood traumas, but she doesn't believe in therapy. She is in denial, as facing the truth about her abusive father is too confronting.

 

We are all in denial about certain difficult truths(blocks) which we need to face in order to resolve present day problems. I believe many of the world's problems stem from the denial of it's individuals.

Edited October 30, 2015 by truthtripper

[truthtripper]

You should remember where you came from as it will keep you humble. Remember when the Pharisees asked Christ how they could let a prostitute touch him, he said those that are forgiven little, show only a little love.

 

What you do not want to do however, is allow your previous pains to weigh you down and allow satan to use them to keep you defeated through guilt. As Paul stated in Ephesians, Christ has taken our weight and will give us the peace that passes understanding.

No no no no, you've got me wrong.

[truthtripper]

You should remember where you came from as it will keep you humble. Remember when the Pharisees asked Christ how they could let a prostitute touch him, he said those that are forgiven little, show only a little love.

.

Have you seen the documentary, Deliver Us From Evil, about a catholic priest who abused hundreds of children and the church's denial about it? He would abuse children, then realising he had sinned would go for confession. After being absolved, he would continue to abuse children. So, after each time he was forgiven, he would perpetrate again.

 

As the saying goes, "God only helps those who help themselves". When we have tried our best and done all we can to help ourselves, then God will intercede. But if we sit back on our haunches and wait for God to act, there will only be disappointment. Forgiveness has no effect, if we don't make the effort ourselves. God didn't give us intellect for nothing.

 

By the way, I know very well where I came from-from God-"I am the way, the truth and the life."

Edited October 31, 2015 by truthtripper

[TheFinalWord]

Have you seen the documentary, Deliver Us From Evil, about a catholic priest who abused hundreds of children and the church's denial about it? He would abuse children, then realising he had sinned would go for confession. After being absolved, he would continue to abuse children. So, after each time he was forgiven, he would perpetrate again.

 

As the saying goes, "God only helps those who help themselves". When we have tried our best and done all we can to help ourselves, then God will intercede. But if we sit back on our haunches and wait for God to act, there will only be disappointment. Forgiveness has no effect, if we don't make the effort ourselves. God didn't give us intellect for nothing.

 

By the way, I know very well where I came from-from God-"I am the way, the truth and the life."

 

I think where I am losing you is you are talking in sort of vague terms, but seem to want a specific answer. Can you give the exact situation you are thinking of in terms of "learning from the past."

 

According to the bible, we cannot help ourselves in terms of overcoming sin. We can only succeed in that endeavor through the saving grace of Christ.

 

By Grace are you saved and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God, lest any man should boast.

 

Forgiveness often requires confessing to the individuals we wronged (in this case to the child's parents) and individuals that will hold us accountable (not just God). In this example, if he was confessing to another priest, that priest had an obligation to report him to the authorities. So yes, it is not all about God changing us, God will convict us if we are not in line with his standards. But it is up to us what to do with the Spirit's promptings.

[pureinheart]

Have you seen the documentary, Deliver Us From Evil, about a catholic priest who abused hundreds of children and the church's denial about it? He would abuse children, then realising he had sinned would go for confession. After being absolved, he would continue to abuse children. So, after each time he was forgiven, he would perpetrate again.

 

As the saying goes, "God only helps those who help themselves". When we have tried our best and done all we can to help ourselves, then God will intercede. But if we sit back on our haunches and wait for God to act, there will only be disappointment. Forgiveness has no effect, if we don't make the effort ourselves. God didn't give us intellect for nothing.

 

By the way, I know very well where I came from-from God-"I am the way, the truth and the life."

 

You know TT, there are times when God wants us to act and times when we wait on Him, and others when He is the only one that can do anything.

 

I have heard that saying a lot, it's very popular, but not Biblical IMO. God knows our hearts and our needs better than we do. Now like jobs for instance. I wasn't looking all that hard and my unemployment was about to run out. A friend had given my resume to her manager... I started work just days before unemployment ran out... every situation is different and similar situations IME, God hasn't used the same fix twice.

[truthtripper]

I think where I am losing you is you are talking in sort of vague terms, but seem to want a specific answer. Can you give the exact situation you are thinking of in terms of "learning from the past."

.

To be honest, I'm not looking for answers. I was just curious as to what types of responses I'd get. There is no exact situation I want to refer to. It's just that throughout my life I've noticed that many of the difficulties in peoples'(friends/family/acquaintances) lives often stem from past difficulties. If you refer to my post to pteromom, this is one example.

 

We are often told to "forget the past and move forward" but really this statement is oxymoronic. It's impossible to move forward, if we forget the past. I can give you another example-another friend of mine who's father was an alcoholic also suffered during her childhood. She now has her own children, but has had difficulties controlling her anger in front of them when she loses her patience with them. She recently told me that she can see her father's behaviour in herself and that this awareness helps her to understand her own feelings and where they originate. So we often need to make important connections between the past and the present to emotionally heal and grow.

 

Many of us tend to run from the past in seeking peace and happiness, but this only leads to the reverse.

[truthtripper]

You know TT, there are times when God wants us to act and times when we wait on Him, and others when He is the only one that can do anything.

 

I have heard that saying a lot, it's very popular, but not Biblical IMO. God knows our hearts and our needs better than we do. Now like jobs for instance. I wasn't looking all that hard and my unemployment was about to run out. A friend had given my resume to her manager... I started work just days before unemployment ran out... every situation is different and similar situations IME, God hasn't used the same fix twice.

It makes no sense that God would intervene when we have made no effort to help ourselves. He might as well have stopped our evolution at apes.

 

You must have had a good reason not to look so hard for work, to qualify for God's intervention.

[TheFinalWord]

To be honest, I'm not looking for answers. I was just curious as to what types of responses I'd get. There is no exact situation I want to refer to. It's just that throughout my life I've noticed that many of the difficulties in peoples'(friends/family/acquaintances) lives often stem from past difficulties. If you refer to my post to pteromom, this is one example.

 

We are often told to "forget the past and move forward" but really this statement is oxymoronic. It's impossible to move forward, if we forget the past. I can give you another example-another friend of mine who's father was an alcoholic also suffered during her childhood. She now has her own children, but has had difficulties controlling her anger in front of them when she loses her patience with them. She recently told me that she can see her father's behaviour in herself and that this awareness helps her to understand her own feelings and where they originate. So we often need to make important connections between the past and the present to emotionally heal and grow.

 

Many of us tend to run from the past in seeking peace and happiness, but this only leads to the reverse.

 

Okay gotcha, though I'm confused why you would say I got you all wrong if you were just looking for different opinions

 

I think you are taking those types of quotes a little too literally. It's like saying you can't go forward looking in the rear view mirror. It's just a quote to help not dwell on the past. I don't think people are saying wake up each day 100% forgetting who you were yesterday.

[pureinheart]

It makes no sense that God would intervene when we have made no effort to help ourselves. He might as well have stopped our evolution at apes.

 

You must have had a good reason not to look so hard for work, to qualify for God's intervention.

 

LOL, I was tired, stressed out and everything else you could add to the equation. I had just lost two grandchildren and almost my daughter during Christmas. I was prideful and arrogant- got laid-off in the midst of a nasty strike in which our lives were threatened- lost a few close friends, so was very traumatized.

 

Are you joking with the evolution thing? Just clarifying.

[truthtripper]

Okay gotcha, though I'm confused why you would say I got you all wrong if you were just looking for different opinions

 

I think you are taking those types of quotes a little too literally. It's like saying you can't go forward looking in the rear view mirror. It's just a quote to help not dwell on the past. I don't think people are saying wake up each day 100% forgetting who you were yesterday.

I didn't include any information about myself in my OP, so I expected other posters to reply accordingly, in a general sense-but that's ok.

 

Quotes aside, it's not usual for people to encourage each other to self-reflect, is it? We are usually encouraged to put on a happy face and get on with life. It would be nice if it was the norm for people to be more open about their inner turmoils(and no one is without them) so that they could be shared and discussed. I'm sure as a result, there would be less tension in the world.

[truthtripper]

LOL, I was tired, stressed out and everything else you could add to the equation. I had just lost two grandchildren and almost my daughter during Christmas. I was prideful and arrogant- got laid-off in the midst of a nasty strike in which our lives were threatened- lost a few close friends, so was very traumatized.

.

Oh that sounds terrible. No wonder God gave you a new job.

[truthtripper]

Are you joking with the evolution thing? Just clarifying.

Why do you ask? Are you a creationist?

[TheFinalWord]

I didn't include any information about myself in my OP, so I expected other posters to reply accordingly, in a general sense-but that's ok.

 

Quotes aside, it's not usual for people to encourage each other to self-reflect, is it? We are usually encouraged to put on a happy face and get on with life. It would be nice if it was the norm for people to be more open about their inner turmoils(and no one is without them) so that they could be shared and discussed. I'm sure as a result, there would be less tension in the world.

 

That's a good point. I have found it often takes people time to build trust before they feel comfortable sharing their personal struggles. I would like to see more accessibility to mental health and spiritual services built into the environment to help people when they need someone to talk to or a place just to reflect and mediate.

[truthtripper]

I have found it often takes people time to build trust before they feel comfortable sharing their personal struggles..

True, but even with friends I've known for decades or family for that matter, people tend not to express their innermost feelings. When we get together, the topics of converation are often light and superficial.

[Tayla]

past allows wisdom and empathy. To utilize in the present moments.

 

Each day carries new awareness though.

 

A film I reviewed had an interesting line... Every person born starts the same... and thru life learns to hate and to build walls, then when its time to die, they regret those walls and realize how little they loved the beauty life gave them.

 

There is a reason "pass it on or pay it forward" resonates... it works. Just be sure what you are passing on... is worthwhile. I personally subscribe to those little gestures... to build upon.

[truthtripper]

past allows wisdom and empathy. To utilize in the present moments.

 

Each day carries new awareness though.

 

A film I reviewed had an interesting line... Every person born starts the same... and thru life learns to hate and to build walls, then when its time to die, they regret those walls and realize how little they loved the beauty life gave them.

 

There is a reason "pass it on or pay it forward" resonates... it works. Just be sure what you are passing on... is worthwhile. I personally subscribe to those little gestures... to build upon.

Yes, I feel like I've wasted a lot of time and energy trying to cross those walls in certain people whom I've known for a long time, the most important being my mum. We're just not able to see eye to eye on some issues relating to our family history. But I'm not alone, there are plenty of daughters out there in the same predicament.

 

Pay it forward-a wonderful way of spiritually uniting people. I love it.

[basil67]

As an athiest, I can't comment on the God part, but as for the rest of your question.....

 

Letting go of the past refers to us not dwelling on it or letting it hold us back. But there is a step between us doing wrong and moving on which involves learning.

 

I've done bad stuff which I've learned from. If the situation were to come again, I'd remind myself of how it went bad and the past and why I decided to not do it again. I'd use those lessons from the past to help decide the future....but I wouldn't dwell in the past or beat myself up over past deeds.

[truthtripper]

As an athiest, I can't comment on the God part, but as for the rest of your question.....

 

Letting go of the past refers to us not dwelling on it or letting it hold us back. But there is a step between us doing wrong and moving on which involves learning.

 

I've done bad stuff which I've learned from. If the situation were to come again, I'd remind myself of how it went bad and the past and why I decided to not do it again. I'd use those lessons from the past to help decide the future....but I wouldn't dwell in the past or beat myself up over past deeds.

....and haven't you noticed, this learning is infinite, it's continuous, it never stops, we never stop growing. It involves a constant shuttling back and forth between the present and the past. In fact, it's the only way we can learn, by associating/comparing present situations with knowledge from past experiences.

 

Dwelling in the past in terms of beating oneself up is a type of depression and has no connection with developing self-awareness.

Edited November 1, 2015 by truthtripper