Article April 23, 2007 Issue

Memorials of the right sort

BY VAL MINARD

The fog was just lifting around Cooper River near my home in New Jersey. Although there was traffic, it was still quiet that early morning as I walked past ducks and geese and finally came upon Memorial Park. This park is a one-mile-long area bordering the river, with mounments commemorating heroes, soldiers, and others who have sacrificed their lives for causes and ideas they believed in.

While it's important to remember the good others have done and progress achieved, walking by the park that day got me thinking about other kinds of memorials that may not be helpful—those places in our heart that bring up past hurts, painful memories, or even the longing for better days gone by. If we're not careful, we may unwittingly make idols out of them. And focusing attention on the past may be just the kind of thinking that prevents a person from making progress in the present.

On the other hand, a willingness to let go of the past can forward progress and healing. In regard to this kind of disposition, Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health: "Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear,—this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony. The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress" (pp. 323-324). Being ready to leave "false landmarks," or old ways of thinking and acting, is essential to progress, especially when you're praying for physical healing.

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