Article July 11, 1988 Issue

Correcting mistakes of the past

There is a way to redeem the past. The key is repentance and spiritual reformation of our present thoughts and actions.

Ellis Draughon

Are you feeling burdened by memories of past mistakes? Mistakes that you have thought could not be corrected because it was too late or there was no opportunity to correct them? There is relief from such burdens—as the Bible assures us: "The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate."^{Ps. 34:22.} It is never too late, and no mistake is so serious that it cannot be redeemed through reformation.

During a time of consecrated study of Christian Science, along with a more consistent effort to practice it in daily living, I would at times find myself remembering incidents of the past that I had not thought of for a long time, even years. I was frequently surprised to recall some of them. There was no conscious effort to recall these incidents, and there seemed to be no reason for remembering them. Some of the incidents seemed very insignificant, but now and then something of a more serious nature came to thought. Finally it occurred to me that these recollections were recurring because they needed to be redeemed.

The spiritual awakening I was experiencing, I began to realize, was accompanied with a purification of thought, and this was forcing errors deeply buried in the past to surface. I realized that what seemed to be the "past" was actually the present when it came to conscious thought. Therefore, I could redeem these incidents of the past when I thought of them now.

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