Ghosts from the Past

Some things haunt us.  I think we can all say there are things that happened, or didn't happen, in our pasts that seem to smack us in the face out of nowhere like a ghost darting in and out of our lives.  We may long to forget the events that spontaneously strike us like a whip.  Why should we be harassed by such terrible things?

If we forgot, who would we be now?  If all recollection of the event and the pain the ensued was erased, would we be as compassionate or empathetic?  Would we have learned how to traverse the bog armored with only our faith?  Who would be left hurting from the absence of our wisdom derived from those haunted visuals?

I think the remembrance of things not so pleasant is another chance to heal.  It gives another opportunity to deal with what may have never thoroughly been dealt with.  We can decide to learn from the pain that seeps out gradually over months, years or decades, or keep trying to ignore it.  Beware of the latter strategy.  The pressure from avoidance will inevitably lead to an explosion and/or living an inhibited life.

Everything that happens can be used for good even if it was breathed into life by the depths of hell.  God can make the horrific morph into a miracle.  He turns the broken and bruised into people made of steel.  Once almost lifeless, they are now tanks in the army of God.