Editorial January 2, 1984 Issue

If memories would haunt you

WILLIAM E. MOODY

People's lives often appear to be woven by the looms of the past. It seems that where a person has already been in his human experience tends to set the course for where he is heading. And people carry along so many memories—some that are good and pleasant, others that are not.

Among the unpleasant memories that may haunt someone and hinder his progress could be a frightening remembrance of a distressing disease or accident, even when the individual is no longer suffering physically. Also, perhaps the passing of a loved one, or a failure in one's career, or a breakup in a close relationship with another, or a sin committed years ago—such memories as these may seem at times to hold individuals in the grip of a grim past.

Certainly there is a proper sense of being instructed by one's previous experiences, learning even from mistakes and failures (and learning not to repeat them). As the Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, writes, "It is good to talk with our past hours, and learn what report they bear, and how they might have reported more spiritual growth."^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 330.}