Like Jesus, every human being has enough memories in his past to occupy his time and thoughts continually. It is not the remembrance of these incidents but the reliving of them that creates havoc in our souls.
Interpretation
Our past experiences can consume our thoughts, but it's how we choose to relive them that truly affects our well-being.
Mother Angelica's quote reflects on the human tendency to dwell on past memories and how this habitual reliving of experiences can disturb our peace of mind. Instead of simply remembering the past, it is the emotional recapitulation of those memories that can lead to turmoil within our souls, emphasizing the importance of managing our thoughts and emotional responses to the past.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal growth, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of letting go of negative memories.
I am not like a pebble on the beach - a grain of sand on the seashore or just one of millions of human beings past, present and future. No, I am a unique human being loved by God as if I were an only child - the only fruit of his creative powers.
I must not permit the evil capabilities of human nature to sour my faith in the tremendous good that is possible despite the frailty of that nature.
The sinner who suddenly realizes God's love for him and then looks at his rejection of that love feels a loss similar to the death of a loved one. A deep void is created in the soul and a loneliness akin to the agony of death.
Our memories are our own, and we cannot blame anything or anyone in the past for any pain dwelling there. If we open the door to them or keep hashing over past incidents in our minds, we have only ourselves to blame.
Man can and does rationalize his sins. He finds reasons for all his weakness, invents excuses that first calm and then deaden his conscience. He blames God, society, education, and environment for his wrong doing.
Love has been defined, analyzed, explained and excused. It has been the cause of wars, feuds, heroism, martyrdom, inordinate passion, and beautiful friendships. It pulls two people of opposite temperaments together into a married state and permits them to live happily. It makes friends understand each other without the necessity of words.
Follow not truth too near the heels, lest it dash out thy teeth.
The things you get fired for when you’re young are the same things that you get lifetime achievement awards for when you’re old.
Silence. All human unhappiness comes from not knowing how to stay quietly in a room.
I am simply impressed by the unexpected insights which shower down on me when my job is to imagine, as contrasted with the woodenly familiar ideas which clutter my desk when my job is to tell the truth.
One must be ruthless with one's own writing or someone else will be.
When, by meditation, we withdraw restless thoughts from the lake of the mind, we behold our soul, a perfect reflection of Spirit.
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