In today’s worship, the worship leader prayed in the middle of singing, saying “Don’t hold on to the past…” Then we sang “I give myself away. I give myself away. I give myself away so You can use me.” It touched and reminded me what the simple gospel demands of me. Jesus said, “No one can take my life from me. I lay down my life voluntarily” (Jn. 10:18a). One of the spiritual principles in the Kingdom of God is to lay down. Give it away. Don’t hold on to it. He is the good shepherd because he lays down his life for his sheep (Jn. 10:11, 15b).
Nonwen’s personal prayer captures how I start to view and understand the past:
“O Lord, life passes by swiftly. Events that a few years ago kept me totally preoccupied have now become vague memories; conflicts that a few months ago seemed so crucial in my life now seem futile and hardly worth the energy; inner turmoil that robbed me of my sleep only a few weeks ago has now become a strange emotion of the past; books that filled me with amazement a few days ago now do not seem as important; thoughts which kept my mind captive only a few hours ago, have now lost their power and have been replaced by others.” [Henri J. M. Nouwen, A Cry for Mercy: Prayers from the Genesee (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1994), p. 15.]
On the one hand, it’s about me learning to let the past go. On the other hand, the past starts to let me go.
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