Monday, August 23, 2004

Past haunting

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in 1943 after 40 days in prison, wrote,
I am now trying my hand at a little study on "The Feeling of Time," and experience that is presumably quite familiar to anyone undergoing pre-trial custody. One of my predecessors in the cell scribbled over the door, "In a hundred years it will all be over." That was his attempt to cope with this experience of empty time. I don't think I could fully agree, but there's a lot one could say on that subject....
As he continued to think on the mater, he wondered why say 'in a hundred years it would be all over' instead of 'until recently everything was great.'

There is, in the immutability of the past, something that offers little hope. I feel it some nights as I try to sleep. All the stupidities of yesterday, embarrassments long gone, flood back on the pallet of my dreams. Even past success is mute in those times. The past has nothing to offer.

Lord, I thank you for your hand that shaped me with those stupid, embarrassing times. I thank you that you have made me free from them. I thank you for the great times in the past as well, but they are not now. Now I look to your continued help, your love to comfort me, your stars and galaxies to enthrall me.

No comments:

Post a Comment