So you’re probably all familiar with the 3 dimensions of space.\u00a0 Length, Width, and Height are how we measure and define an amount of space.\u00a0 We humans also live in a half dimension of time.\u00a0 In that half dimension, we can travel forwards, but so far we are unaware of an ability to travel backwards in it.<\/p>\n
How many things would you like to change in your past with the knowledge you now possess?\u00a0 I can think of several things I would change, there are words I would not speak, and other words that were unsaid that I would be sure to say.\u00a0 I would change my focus in certain relationships, and I would be so much more kind than I was in my past.\u00a0 There are many things I would like to change.<\/p>\n
If you have ever watched a time-travel movie, you realize how quickly changing things in the past can mess things up.\u00a0 Marty McFly nearly erases himself from existence simply by saving his dad from being hit by a car.\u00a0 Do we dare risk travelling backwards to change the past, in order to change the future?\u00a0 It never seems to work out quite how we expect it to.<\/p>\n
At least it doesn’t work out very well in the movies.<\/p>\n
What if I told you there was a way to change your past, and by changing the past affect your future?\u00a0 I assume that you will think I’ve had a bit too much holiday eggnog, and write me off as a nut(meg) job.\u00a0 What if it were true though?\u00a0 What if we could make changes to our future?\u00a0 Well, I am proposing to you that it can be done.\u00a0 You can start here in the present, visit your past, and change your future.<\/p>\n
Here’s how it works.<\/p>\n
Have you really confronted your past?\u00a0 Have you owned all of your mistakes, accepted that you ultimately bear the blame and are responsible for your actions in that moment, regardless of the circumstances you were in?\u00a0 If not, do so now.\u00a0 Take a moment to travel back to whatever that mistake in your past was, confront it, and accept the responsibility for what happened.\u00a0 As you return from the past with this responsibility, you will find that your present choices are affected, and your future will be different.\u00a0 You may discover that you are far less willing to hurt someone again, once you accept the full weight of the responsibility for your actions.\u00a0 \u00a0Perhaps you will think before you speak in the future, or alter the way you approach the same situation if it happens again.<\/p>\n
You have changed your future by confronting your past.<\/p>\n
There is one other method of time travel available to you.<\/p>\n
Have you made peace with your past?\u00a0 Have you accepted that those things that happened have happened?\u00a0 Perhaps someone has betrayed you in a way you never thought possible.\u00a0 Perhaps someone took something from you without asking and with no intention of returning it.\u00a0 Perhaps someone has even stolen your peace through their actions in the past.\u00a0 Again, return to those moments and confront them.\u00a0 Make peace with each difficult moment, accepting it for what it was.\u00a0 Forgive.\u00a0 Forgive the person who hurt you, even if they haven’t asked for forgiveness.\u00a0 Travel back to that moment where you felt the knife in your back most keenly, turn to the person who placed it there, and tell them that they are forgiven.\u00a0 Forsake your right to revenge, and move on.<\/p>\n
As you return to the present, you will find that you can approach the rest of your life differently now.\u00a0 You have changed your future.\u00a0 You have broken the power of the past to hold you on a certain course.\u00a0 \u00a0You have changed the past.<\/p>\n
I don’t pretend that any of this will be easy.\u00a0 There is also one more thing to be done.\u00a0 It is perhaps the hardest single thing you may have to do.<\/p>\n
Accept forgiveness.<\/p>\n
Now that you have owned and confronted your past, Jesus is waiting with forgiveness in hand.\u00a0 You can find the peace that was denied to you in the past.\u00a0 Jesus has already done the work to offer you this forgiveness, and we are celebrating his arrival on earth those so many years ago right now in this season.\u00a0 The present, right now, is the perfect time to change your future.\u00a0 You don’t have to be stuck in the future dictated by your past, Jesus has opened up other paths for us.\u00a0 You can find peace in the future, in spite of a troubled past.<\/p>\n
Use the present, to confront the past, and change your future.\u00a0 Travel in time.\u00a0 Seek peace.<\/p>\n
(Oddly enough, Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol” was the inspiration for this post.\u00a0 Give it a read if you have a few hours this holiday and you’d like to be challenged.)<\/p>\n
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Be sure to check out the other people on the journey with me at\u00a0254peace.org<\/a>, or on our\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>.\u00a0 There are some awesome people participating this year, and they all have something important to say.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
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