Reflections

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

The science of reflection teaches us of bended light

Refracted upon a surface that diffuses its prism rays

As to give a distorted and skewed signal to our sight

And twist our vision and bias our constricted gaze

You remember the “good ole’ days,” right?  You know the ones - the days long ago when life was sweeter, more relaxed, and more easy-going.  Not like today’s hustle and bustle, deadlines, so many tasks to accomplish, and errands to run.  Certainly, the published events of those days were not like the headlines of today - so full of tragedy and horror.  At least that’s often the way some of us remember the past.  Often, as we look back, those days appear to have been more peaceful, less threatening, and less burdensome than perhaps they really were.

There is an inherent human tendency to apply what may be called “selective memory” to our past.  We retain the good and “sweep under the rug” that which we would rather not recall.  This tendency to deny remembrance of not-so-good past things can be a reasonable thing in some cases, where were we to dwell on past miseries would bring them to life again – only to mire us down in things that cannot be changed. 

However, to look upon the past and only reflect on the good denies the truth and can distort our present thinking, feeling, and doing.  In many cases these seemingly purposeful lapses of memory disavow us the opportunity to learn from past mistakes, to waste time and energy taking paths already taken and that previously led to nowhere significant.  To deny the truth of such memories is an exercise in self-deception at best.  At worse, it is an exercise in denying the truth of things as they really were.  Anytime we deny the truth, we are held in bondage by the lie. 

Hence, our meditation suggests:

May we look upon the past with the lamp of truth and light

Less contaminated, less blemished by our reflections

And with careful judgment, improve our historical sight

Of past days with purer perceptions and fewer deceptions

  

Reflections

Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem, that I could have joyed with him in the promised land; then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity; and they were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord— Yea, if my days could have been in those days, then would my soul have had joy in the righteousness of my brethren.  But behold, I am consigned that these are my days, and that my soul shall be filled with sorrow because of this the wickedness of my brethren.

Book of Mormon   Helaman 7:7-9

The science of reflection teaches us of bended light

Refracted upon a surface that diffuses its prism rays

As to give a distorted and skewed signal to our sight

And twist our vision and bias our constricted gaze

Such is the glimpse into past days of grandeur and glory

When the world appears more perfect than really existed

For the passage of time oft shades the actual story

By obscuring the narrative as it originally consisted

When we are tempted to reflect on apparent better days

When our battles, it seems, were easily won and fought

Memory is oft vetted thru a flawed and filtered haze

Where the glorified past is revered more than it ought

Like many who engage this error-prone passion

Past light glows softer from an earlier time and season

For each era is filled with tribulations after a fashion

That later betray and accuse the memory of treason

May we look upon the past with the lamp of truth and light

Less contaminated, less blemished by our reflections

And with careful judgment, improve our historical sight

Of past days with purer perceptions and fewer deceptions

Larry Doyle Crenshaw