Remembering and Forgetting

The road behind is paved in stone and dust

With shadows long and hinges red with rust

I've carried heavy things I didn't need

Like Bitter words and every hollow deed

But the morning light is whispering a name

And it tells me I don't have to stay the same

Oh, looking back, I find the gift of remembering

The steady hand that led me through the night

And looking forward, the gift of forgetting

To leave the dark and travel toward the light

One is a bridge, and one is a closing door

To help me be the soul I wasn't before

I'll keep the warmth of every kind embrace

And the way I felt the turning of His grace

But I will cast the failures to the sea

The chains of "what I was" won't follow me

For if the Master says He'll not recall the sin

Then why should I keep letting the winter in

Oh, looking back, I find the gift of remembering

The steady hand that led me through the night

And looking forward, the gift of forgetting

To leave the dark and travel toward the light

One is a bridge, and one is a closing door

To help me be the soul I wasn't before

To hold the miracle, but let the sorrow fly

To see the earth, but keep an eye upon the sky

The hard things fall like leaves upon the ground

While the good things are the only treasures found

A sanctified forgetting of the pain

Until the joy is all that will remain

The gift of remembering

The gift of letting go

Toward the light