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Story
June 11, 1949
Chicago World
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
What is this article about?
Reflective article on wiping painful memories through spiritual 'rebirth,' citing Moses' command to destroy harmful images and Jesus' words to Nicodemus, urging surrender of personal excuses for healing.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
Starting Afresh
Memory can mirror only what the mind first forms. No one wants to lose his memory; yet probably almost everyone would like to wipe certain things from it.
Personal sense, or mortal personality, hangs on the walls of memory distorted pictures which might be entitled: an unhappy childhood, a tyrannical parent, a false friend, a moral aberration, a harmful relationship, a disease, a war. The need to get rid of such pictures is obvious; and for the same reasons given by Moses when he instructed the children of Israel on their march towards Canaan (Numbers 33:52, 55): "Ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures ... But if ye will not ... those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell."
Personal sense is ready with its excuses: "I can't forget all I've been through"; "I can't forgive this injury"; "I can't blot out that picture"; "I can't surrender this relationship"; "This is my nature, and I can't change." One and all, these are admissions of incurability, in which disease takes root. ...
"But how may I rid my memory of its unhappy pictures?" one may ask. Jesus gave the answer in his succinct reply to Nicodemus (John 3:7), "Ye must be born again."
How is one to be "born again"?
Memory can mirror only what the mind first forms. No one wants to lose his memory; yet probably almost everyone would like to wipe certain things from it.
Personal sense, or mortal personality, hangs on the walls of memory distorted pictures which might be entitled: an unhappy childhood, a tyrannical parent, a false friend, a moral aberration, a harmful relationship, a disease, a war. The need to get rid of such pictures is obvious; and for the same reasons given by Moses when he instructed the children of Israel on their march towards Canaan (Numbers 33:52, 55): "Ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures ... But if ye will not ... those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell."
Personal sense is ready with its excuses: "I can't forget all I've been through"; "I can't forgive this injury"; "I can't blot out that picture"; "I can't surrender this relationship"; "This is my nature, and I can't change." One and all, these are admissions of incurability, in which disease takes root. ...
"But how may I rid my memory of its unhappy pictures?" one may ask. Jesus gave the answer in his succinct reply to Nicodemus (John 3:7), "Ye must be born again."
How is one to be "born again"?
What sub-type of article is it?
Inspirational Essay
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
Providence Divine
Recovery
What keywords are associated?
Memory Erasure
Spiritual Rebirth
Biblical Advice
Personal Renewal
Forgiveness
What entities or persons were involved?
Moses
Jesus
Nicodemus
Story Details
Key Persons
Moses
Jesus
Nicodemus
Story Details
The piece reflects on the human desire to erase painful memories of unhappy experiences, using biblical references from Moses and Jesus to advocate for spiritual rebirth as the means to achieve personal renewal and overcome excuses of incurability.