Put The Past In Front Of You

 

Put the past in front of you.

Extend your arms and

Look at it,

Because the past is complete,

It is known.

It is clear.

It can be glimpsed.

 

Put the future behind you.

Let it come to you.

Do not try to see it.

It is not known.

It is hidden.

It is unclear.

It cannot be seen.

 

The past cannot be ignored.

The future cannot be rushed.

 

Echoes of the past are

Embedded in the future.

 

We must learn.

We must not forget.

 

The past is in front of you.

The future is behind.

 

Thank you, Aymara people, in Bolivia, Peru, and northern Chile

For this reframe of popular American culture and belief.

 

Oh God:

Help us to know it’s okay to look at the past in front of our faces.

Help us to know it’s okay to sit with the mess of hardship and grief when they are here.

Help us to remember it’s okay to grieve.

Help us to remember it’s okay to lament.

Help us to hold to hope—

To connection—

To the joy and struggle—

To the belief of a beautiful future…

 

Amen.

 

--adapted from Hope: A User’s Manual by Maryann McKibben Dana, pps. 14-17