Sometimes I think the main use of history is for the nurturing of old grudges, to keep the wounds open. When I hear some commentator say how in order to understand a region we must keep in mind its history, what he is really saying is that every slight, every outrage, every transgression must be dragged out over and over, so that each side might feel justified in its anger.
Surely this is how God sees the world. Every sin is present, every failing fresh. No wonder there's no forgiveness to be had, except by special dispensation. God is no historian, in this view; God is a politician. The historian understands that the past is past. The politician insists the past is present, which perspective only condemns it to be our future as well.
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