To Err is Human
Psalm 79
Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; May your compassion quickly come to us.
This single line from Psalm 79 stood out to me from today's scripture collection. "Remember not the iniquities of the past." This prayer to God holds so much truth to human nature. The further along in a relationship I go, I notice a tendency I have. I remember the iniquities of the past. Not on a day to day basis mind you, but when a new "iniquity" arises, so too all the past ones step forward. This tends to have two negative consequences. First, I overreact. I must own this. I overreact. Instead of judging a friend, or child, or parent, or co-worker on the singular event of today, they are judged by all my past hurts. My ire can be quickly raised. Second, this makes forgiving quickly and moving on more difficult. I usually land in my pit of despair wallowing for a while. Israel feared that this human tendency applies to God (who obviously remembers EVERYTHING). And their thoughts in modern day terms would be something along the lines of, "We are sooo -BLEEP-" The saying goes, "To err is human, to forgive is divine." May I share a beautiful secret not often known and rarely recalled if it is? To forget is also Divine. We see ourselves as the sum total of our failings so often, especially when in relation to the Lord. It's our natural conclusion because that is often how we see others too. Jesus is the embodiment of Divine Mercy. He took our sins upon Himself not so that we would be forgiven but eternally whipped by them. He took our sins upon Himself so that something truly Divine could occur, they could be wiped clean. "When Jesus repeatedly states, 'Your sins are forgiven.'" He means, the slate has been wiped clean. When we truly repent, regret, remorse (pick your 're') the reset button is pressed. When we lie for the 1000th time, God is not looking at 1-1000, He is looking at 1000. There are three spiritual lessons that emerge from this.
1. St. Ignatius recommends a daily examine of what we do right and wrong and to be remorseful of the wrong. This keeps us in right relation with God. The slate is wiped clean regularly. This is a discipline I am still working toward. To want to forget our own failings is human as well I think, so this 'slips' my memory to do. (funny how that works.)
2. Stop holding the mirror of your own past up to yourself and allowing that to prevent your moving forward. God can't wait for you to live your best life, it can only happen when we realize that He made that possible on the cross.
3. Mirror the immense mercy of God with each other. Let's keep the past in the past. When our mind begins to drift, tell it to stop. That's right, rebuke it. I believe we will find that forgiveness and the resulting healing come so much easier.
I am a work in progress, but I am not the sum total of my mistakes and poor choices. Neither is anyone else that I encounter. Let us strive to be Divine not only in forgiveness, but as importantly, in forgetfulness.