Pencils, Pens, and Repentence

When I write, I usually write in pencil or on the computer, rather than in pen. I do this because I occasionally (frequently) make mistakes. With an eraser or a Backspace key, it's easy to correct mistakes made in pencil or in a word processor. Mistakes made in pen are not so easily fixed. Often, one has to cross out a word or sentence and try to squeeze a correction in among what has already been written. One can, supposedly, correct one's mistakes that way, but that doesn't take away the mark of a mistake or the additional marks made in correcting it.

There is a clear spiritual message here. Two, in fact. And I'm not sure which is more important.

The first is that the Atonement is wonderful. Through the infinite power of the Atonement, our sins can be washed away so completely that God will forget we ever committed them. In that way, repenting is like erasing something written in pencil or on the computer. Once the correction process is finished, the marks of our mistakes are completely gone.

Except that they're not. The second lesson is that, even after we've repented, the memories of our sins stay with us, even if they don't remain with God. God may only concern Himself with the final draft, but we still remember all the mistakes and corrections we've made in the revision process. This is probably important because it helps us remember our mistakes long enough to learn from them, so we can learn to do better in the future. We can't help making mistakes, so long as we're human, but if we remember how and why we made such mistakes, we can gradually learn to make them less frequently until we reach the point where we don't make them at all.

At times, I'm glad I remember the mistakes I've made (and how to avoid them), and sometimes I'm happier when I can forget that the mistakes ever happened. I'm not sure which is better, in the long run. Learning from one's past mistakes is important, but it's also important to eventually let them go. I'm not ultimately sure, then, whether it's better to write in pen or in pencil. It may depend on the job. It also may depend on how many mistakes one makes and how much one still needs to learn. Both pens and pencils have their pros and cons. I'm thankful that God can help us remember what we need to remember and forget what we can afford to forget.