Ruins of Rome

Rome is full of ruins of all sorts. Pillars standing erect, looking up to the sky, walls standing by themselves, columns embracing the earth and refusing to move, faceless statues, handless fairies, noseless divine figurines, it is sometimes the sight one might witness after a ferocious war. But even in the ruins, one could see through the Roman elegance. There is life even in the ruins, which defy decay. There is something in the ruins which had seen the human species going through a similar process of decay, but unlike the Roman ruins, humanity is fast catching up with symptoms of irrevocable decay, that can cause serious damage to the species as such. Luckily the wise Romans have not decided to put together the broken pieces of buildings, squares, Forum, figurines… they have let them as they were centuries ago. A sense of embracing the past with all its failures and decay has kept the city a living witness to what it means to embracing one’s past.

Past is something that is irrevocable, and often one tends to fight with the past, and in the process failing to accept what is presented in the living present, or preparing to welcome the future with all its possibilities. Past is kept alive wrapped in our memories, and the present looks up to the past to find way for the future. But the Romans had a significant insight into the past – leave the past behind and bother about the present! Sometimes, or often, it is useless to try to piece the broken fragments of the past, and make meaning for our present. We may end up more frustrated and disappointed, when we realize that we have long forgotten the formula for such a putting together, or that a piece or two are missing that we are unable to get the complete picture of the road map we are to travel. This thought can only cloud our thinking, and the path may become all the more blurred.

It is hard to bid adieu to the past, especially the broken relationships, bitter memories which still haunt us, even after several attempts of reconciling to the facts, instances of betrayal and insincerity, moments of humiliation and insults; it is also hard to let them lie at the bottom of our hearts, and walk past them to live in the present. But have not the Romans done that? Maybe it demands a lot of guts to do that, to leave the cozy cocoons and to see the heat and chill of the world outside; to fight with the elements which may not be altogether friendly. But is it impossible? Down the centuries, generations of men and women have taught us the secret to cross the thresholds of impossibility – leave the past, and walk into the present. Are we going to lose something as a result of extending a parting embrace to the past, and leave them behind forever? We may, but what we may gain in the present may be far more gratifying to our souls than the past.

I am reminded of two disciples promising to Jesus to follow him, but one makes an excuse to say good bye to his parents, and Jesus says to him to leave the dead to bury their own dead; to another he says, anyone who had put his hand on the plough and looks back is not worthy of the Kingdom. I would like to think of Jesus telling these two disciples to leave the past behind and enter into the present with him; after all, another name for YHWH is I AM, the ever present; to live in the present is to live in the presence of the divine. In another sense, we all become part of divinity the moment we move from the past to the present. For reality in the present is far removed from that of the past, and of the future. The power of the present is something that we need to cherish, and it is possible only by becoming aware of where our minds are at regular intervals.

Today I would like to pause for a while just now, and bring my mind to the present. Let me take a sheet of paper and put on it the memories of the past that keep popping up in my mind at each passing moment. Let me give them a decent farewell, not try to chase them, but give them a warm embrace, feel them, even shed a tear or two, give them an affectionate kiss, and let them part. They may remain like the ruins of the Romans in Rome, but may not come to haunt our present. Let me close my eyes and enter into the sweetness of the present moment; see beauty all around , all that I ever wanted to envision. Let me open my eyes and see everything with fresh eyes, as if I am seeing them for the first time. Let me listen to the different sounds with new ears, as if I am hearing them for the first time. Let me fill my heart with awe and wonder at the miracle of the present moment, and see how my body is slowly transformed into a divine place, a Patheon, where all gods find a niche for themselves! (Brussels)