Past History

One of me Grandpa Joe's favorite sayings was that things that had happened were 'past history'. While the phrase is certainly quaint, inherently repetitive, and obviously true, I believe he meant more to it than that. What he meant was that a lot of things simply need to be forgotten.

Not all things, of course. We need reminders at times in order to keep us honest and not commit the same mistakes over again. Even when our faults have been forgiven, memories should perhaps be kept in our souls that we might never forget the lessons learned from them. But on the whole, we need to let go of the past.

I don't think we do that enough in this day and age. When any affront, indeed even perceived affronts, are dredged up from our pasts solely to condemn us, we live in a dangerous time. For who of us does not have those skeletons in our closet? Who of us have not, at some point in our lives, said and done the wrong thing?  

Let's go out on a limb and say very few. So no matter how heinous the offense, maybe we ought to be forgiving of it, no matter how critical we may believe it is to our well being or the well being of the people around us. And I believe we need to start asking and answering honestly, how many such charges are valid and how many are, if you will forgive what I promise is not meant as a joke or commentary on more recent history, trumped up? 

Without a strong and pervasive reason to rekindle the flames of sin and error, why don't we just let the embers cool? Why don't we let past history stay in the past?