Let Your Past Go

Who was this man that Mark Grimsley writes about? He was one of the greatest soldiers of his time. He lived at a time when his country needed great soldiers! Yet his past so discouraged him that he almost never became the leader that his country needed. Hiram was born to a father who was harsh and cold and would always see him as a failure. His mother was not a source of emotional comfort to him either; he never once saw her moved enough to shed a tear. Hiram was always small for his age. He grew up ashamed he was not the kind of leader his father expected him to be. At age 17, he was pushed by his father into the U.S. Military Academy. Hiram was now 5'1" and 120 pounds. He feared failing. He hated the school, but he dared not buck his father's decision. In fact, when the academy listed his name wrong, the young man was too timid even to get the error corrected. He went through the rest of his life under a partly erroneous name. In time, Hiram settled into the school and did acceptably graduating just below the middle of his class. When he returned home, though, his neighbors mocked him in his new uniform, and the old humiliation returned. The boy was so deeply wounded emotionally that he would forever feel self-conscious in uniform. Later, as a three-star general, he would prefer to wear a simple private's shirt with three stars sewn on it. After marrying and attaining the rank of Captain, he dropped out of the military. He tried various ventures in civilian life until the Civil War broke out. He then tried to reenlist as an officer. He found it hard even to get an interview with someone who could appoint him to a position. Only a few good strokes of fortune ever made it possible for Hiram to show what kind of a military leader he really was. But he truly was a leader! For the young man who lived with a sense of inadequacy, who never had any great physical stature, and who almost couldn't make it in a career was named Hiram Ulysses Grant. We remember him as Ulysses S. Grant, leader of the victorious Northern Army and later President of the United States. Instead of being bogged down by his past, Grant forged on ahead to a much more important and valued future. We have another person, Paul, of whom we could describe in a similar manner. Paul was a persecutor of the church. He was there when Stephen became the first Christian martyr. Indeed, he was part of the lynch party. He even held Stephen's cloak as Stephen was pounded into unconsciousness and then death. But a change took place in the Apostle Paul's life. He became a dynamo for Christ. If anybody can give us advice on what we can do to achieve a new, vibrant, victorious life it is he. Paul is probably that one man whose writings and witness have touched more lives for God than any other except Christ himself. So, as we draw near to the end of our Lenten season, we take these two individuals as examples for ourselves with a question.

How have you let your past go so that a brighter and more valued future you can come to life?

Msgr. Mike