To be human is to be "a history-making creature who can neither repeat the past nor leave it behind," noted W. H. Auden. In Kierkegaard's most famous words:  "Life must be lived forward, but it can be understood only backwards." And as Mark Twain put it in his inimitable style, "Although the past may not repeat itself, it does rhyme."

 

All spiritualities touch on time, for time is as pervasive as spirituality. Our past continues to live in our present, and the way we live this day, the way we live this moment determines our future. Spirituality's "pervasiveness" embraces both the past and the future in the present moment. - The Spirituality of Imperfection