What Now, What Next?

Yesterday I wrote about why we should not jettison the past, for there is much wisdom that has come before us and our preoccupation with the new can obscure the fact that new does not necessarily mean better. However, there is a backward gaze that is profoundly unhealthy and modern Psychology has made a mint off of it: Looking back as a defense for current behavior that is unwise.

For instance, because I was _____ when a kid, this is why I do this _______ now (fill in the words). When Jesus told the man in the Bible that the "dead should bury their own dead" it is hard to entirely figure out what he was speaking about. Yet, it is clear that there was something or someone that held him back from following Christ in the present. For many, it is the past. The past is dug up and the bones of prior experiences are examined forensically in great detail. Some introspection about the past is not bad but dedicating a good deal of the present to the past is really not productive. Rest In  Peace. Visit the tombstone of the past on occasion but let the bones rest.  

The real issue is this: What now and and what next? The only two pieces in play are the present and the future. The past has helped create the current position on the board but as the old saying states, "Play the hand that you are dealt. " The past as a piece is out of the game now and you must carry on and do the best you can with what you got.    

  

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