When I was a child, Dad had a pond below the house by the barn. I used to drop a rock in that pond and watch the circles spread. Small circles at first, but spreading wider and wider. Life experiences are like that rock. They disturb the small surface of the pond and spread, sometimes even throughout years, affecting our thinking and our outlook.
The thing to realize is that we don’t have to stand gazing onto the surface of the pond. If the rock happened to be a sad or unpleasant experience or a bad decision, we should turn away and not become mesmerized by remembering.
The rock is gone. There’s no bringing it back. It’s at the bottom of the pond in all that mud and sludge. Now, we’d want to go there? It’s time to forget it and replace sad rememberings with hopeful ones.
Wrongs done to us or by us cannot be un-done, they can only serve as lessons learned. Since this is true, why go backward? Who can go forward when looking back at that rock? (see www.greatbiblestudy.com.)
I’d rather think of life as a still and beautiful lake. The rocks I drop in and the ripples that spread need to be good thoughts and actions–love for others, good deeds, kind words. Those are circles that affect other lives and keep spreading, brightening other days, changing the surface of life in a positive way. Who knows what effect they may have?
“I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation” (Psalm 13:5).
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