I stood, hesitating, in front of the window. I was looking at an echo of my past. I was five years old, sitting raptured in front of the old black and white TV. To my left, I could see the turntable. With a tear in my eye, I could remember the awe I felt when listening to Frank Sinatra vinyl in his prime. I saw myself spinning the globe, randomly stopping it with my finger to see where in the future I might land. I had no idea how true this would be. The briefcase was identical to one that served me well for many years. Endless memories and words are represented by items in a room echoing yesterday.
Yesterday’s echo is helpful for one’s learning and remembering. The echo is a fact. It cannot be altered and manipulated except through one’s imagination. The challenge I often face is the bias I bring with me when I look back. I know I survived, so the past always seems better than it was. I see it with a view defined by the present. What appeared to be good then may not be today. I begin to see and understand as I strip away my biased, rosed-coloured view.
Yesterday does not always fit today. Life whispers remind me that it does not need to. See it for what it was, nothing more. I think of influential leaders and wise individuals who came before me. I react with horror when I read their words. “I bought slaves, male and female, who had children, giving me even more slaves; then I acquired large herds and flocks, larger than any before me in Jerusalem.” (Ecclesiastes 2.7) As critical as I am of them, am I completely innocent in how I have accumulated my savings and security? Did I protect and respect the innocent and powerless along the way?
Opening myself to yesterday’s truth does not change the past; it opens a door to learning and growth. What happens next will be revealed by what I do with what I know.
