Dear Pogue,

I’ve come across something three times in the last two weeks and on each occasion I’ve found myself troubled and thinking “No!”.

What is it?

Well, it is the propagation of a belief that says that the past is something we should not be affected by or, probably more accurately, it is something that we should not allow to affect us. Once I’ve heard it in respect of our personal lives and twice in relation to our collective life as a group of people and then as a nation. Then as I cast about I found no difficulty in accumulating a large number of trite quotes that basically say, “The past is exactly that and has no bearing on the present unless we allow it to”. What a wonderful world that would be, or not?

Sometimes the past is something you can’t let go of. And sometimes the past is something we’ll do anything to forget. And sometimes we learn something new about the past that changes everything we know about the present

Meredith Grey, Grey’s Anatomy

Deny it or not the past exists. It’s there. It’s the place where things happened, boundaries were established, experiences occurred, knowledge was gained, rights and wrongs were committed. It’s the place where we were happy, sad, right or wrong, we achieved, we failed, we had relationships and much more. And all this at so many levels. Individual, in our tribe, in our nation. It’s our history and like it or not it is a major determining factor in our lives at this moment. Claiming not to be affected by it is just delusional.

Yes, we might decide to make an active decision to not let certain factors determine our next steps but that will have to be part of a conscious action because what has gone before is part of who we now are. I know people who have had chequered pasts, where bad things happened and they bear the scars of those events. The scars don’t go away because someone tells you that the past need have no bearing on the present. Goodness there are many, many people whose livelihoods are based on counselling people, in the present, because of the effects of the past. And there are those whose scars give them standing in the present. Pogue, do you remember those lines spoken by good King Harry in Shakespeares Henry V, spoken just prior to the Battle of Agincourt?

He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day:

“(S)trip his sleeve and show his scars” because we are the sum of our past and how we are both known and know ourselves is a sum of this same past.

As nations our borders, which may have changed many times over the years, have been determined by our history. Our governments are decided by the achievements of days gone by and our outlook on the larger world is largely modelled by events gone before, as is the world’s view of us as a people. The character of a people in the eyes of others is so often the product of the sum of their deeds in preceding years.

Yes, in the present we may determine to move away from what has gone before, to be a better person, better people. But this will never be achieved by denying or ignoring our history. The scars are the scars! Rather it is in acknowledging, owning and accepting what we have done and what was done to us we make possible healing in the present and the possibility of a better future. How cheaply we are sold by those who tell us to “not let the past inhibit us”, to just “start over”. Would that we could be healed of the past so readily, but the scars are still the scars and for some the path may be long and include acts of forgiveness, both of others and self, and acts of reparation. Indeed, at a nation level, there are many who need to make reparation for deeds done to make possible healing in the present and a future with possibilities.

The pain you are avoiding is a very necessary pain and will make you strong again.

Stephen Richard’s, Findmotivtion.org

So, Pogue, don’t be fooled by those who deceived into believing the past has no bearing on our lives in the present. And don’t believe that a simple decision frees from what has happened before. It’s the doctrine of those who fail to live responsibly, to take ownership of their histories and admit to what has been done. Is this cowardice? At all levels a better future can only be achieved by taking responsibility for the past.

Healing begins with acknowledging our past, not ignoring or denying it, or even declaring it no longer relevant. It is in acknowledging it we are able to begin to overcome it and move forward. To find peace and bear out the consequences that need to be be dealt with prior to healing.

Here’s to hoping we can achieve a better future, how ever good the present.

Yours, taking responsibility, which may surprise you,

Wic