‘He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree so we might die to sin.’ 1 Peter 2 : 24

To some degree we are all trapped in our past and it is a sad fact that  our minds are as often or not drawn back to sad or troubling memories. They bring fear for the future ‘ will it happen again’, regret , shadowy tentacles reach out to ensnare and as Blake wrote ‘ bind our joys and desires’. Of course to think in terms of the past is totally illogical. for an observer on Sirius the Dog Star 8.6 light years away from us our now is still his future and as for an inhabitant of a planet circling Alpha Centuri there is no past,present or future for them with respect to us as the earth in his present has yet to exist!

Yet still we allow our histories to poison the present and hold us back from commitment and joy the old adage 'it is better to have loved and failed than never love at all' seems easily forgotten. But of course as always in life there is a conundrum without memories there wouldn’t be lessons learned therefore no spiritual advancement. The sharp barbs of conscience remind us of mistakes made the map of life that warns of the cliffs and sudden bends in the road without such a map, to follow Christ and grow in love and understanding would be impossible in life failure and success are the same coin.

For me the key to all of this is a full acceptance of the crucifixion .Christ’s sacrifice for us his taking on of the burden of our sins marks the line between forgiveness and guilt. I believe Christ’s coming was an inevitable event you can’t have moral freedom without the choice between good and evil our conscience tells us the difference between the two but without the ability to gain forgiveness and absolution the Christian life instead of becoming one of ‘ joy’ becomes filled with darkness. Christ’s sacrifice gives us a unique gift : recognize mistakes, seek forgiveness move on cleansed and refreshed but we must embrace the whole package as ever there are no short cuts with God.

Lake Garden, Tai Ping