The Burden of the Past

In the Diagnosis of the Times column of the Catholic Peace Weekly, a priest director of a Human Rights Research Center gives us some thoughts on the weight of the past.

Not only tragic events such as accidents and wars, but also the separations and losses that occur during life, frustration caused by the world's high barriers, and sadness and regret over irreversible events are not just things of the past. The past is tied to the present life and the time to come.

Let's conduct a 'thought experiment' proposed by Friedrich Nietzsche. Imagine one day an evil spirit sneaks into our deepest loneliness and says: 'You will have to live the life you have lived so far, and the life you are living now, over and over again'. This question, known as 'eternal recurrence', is an experiment that asks about the meaning of my life. If the same life were to repeat endlessly, how would I deal with this test?

Neither naive optimism that imagines everything will just work out, nor pessimism that always anticipates the worst scenario seems to pass the tough test of life. Life is not a series of actions and events that are unrelated but a path that moves along with time. Whether it's individual or social life, even if the path seems to be interrupted or lacks continuity at times, what is interrupted is only a phase of life, not the whole. To affirm the present existence, we must acknowledge the past that led to such existence, no matter how unpleasant and reluctant we are to recall it. It is impossible to believe the past never existed just because we have not lived happily until now, but at the same time, we don't live helplessly looking regretfully over the past.

But why must we accept the past? Wouldn't it be much better if we had never been born, and if tragedies like the Sewol ferry disaster, the Itaewon tragedy, or the many senseless deaths had never occurred? Accepting our existence or social state is not a matter of preference but choice. In dealing with regret and loss, an acceptance attitude is better than resistance. We are inevitably the product of a history we cannot change. It would have been much better if terrible things had not happened, however, we can't avoid all tragedy but no need to affirm it. It's about finding the right path when an opportunity is given.

The force that rubs against clumsy optimism is 'hope.' Thomas Aquinas said that hope is the desire for the 'good of a difficult future' (bonum futurum arduum). Hope is not the feeling that things will turn out well. Hope is the desire to find a way through danger and difficulty and to act. This requires a clear vision to see the anxious reality and a courageous attitude of the heart. And above all, hope is a gift from God to those who are frustrated and disappointed. It is also the expectation that is reborn through solidarity and companionship with them. Our hope is for a better future and to work to make it happen.