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Listen while you read: "Beneath The Shadow Of The Cross"1
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Philippians 3:12-14 – Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (NRSV)
The corner of Yonge and Dundas streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, will never look the same again at the Square that bore those two names. Soon this part of the city will bear the name "Sankofa Square", a concept that I have used in sermons ever since visiting Africa in the late 1990s.
The Akan people of Ghana have a proverb that goes, "Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi." Literally translated, it means, "It is not wrong (taboo) to go back and fetch what you forgot." From the proverb comes the word "Sankofa", which means "Go back and get it." The symbol of Sankofa is a bird moving forward but with its head turned backward, in effect, going forward yet remaining conscious of the past and the wisdom contained there.
The Sankofa proverb from Ghana teaches that we should reach back to our roots and gather the best of what our past has to teach us so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, foregone, or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, revived, preserved, and perpetuated.
Here we are, having begun yet another year. We have much to look back upon in the year 2023 and, hopefully, much to learn from the lessons that it had to teach us in order to make 2024 a better year: a year to end war and violence, a year to address homelessness and hunger, a year to come to grips with climate change. It is important to take the lessons of the past into the new year ahead of us and just as important to strain forward to what lies ahead.
Romans 15:4 – For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (NIV)
"Life must be understood backward. But it must be lived forward." – Søren Kierkegaard
Prayer: Help us, Gracious One, to learn from the past and to embrace the future that You have in store for us in 2024. Amen.
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About the author:
Kenn Stright <kennethstright@yahoo.ca>
West Petpeswick, Nova Scotia, Canada
Send your feedback to the author
Wise words, Kenn. Happy New Year.
Thank you for the reminder not to live in the past but strive on to what lies ahead.
Thanks Kenn. Wishing you a blessed New Year as you press on.
(ON)
So true Kenn. We have much to learn about how the past is to teach.
Blessings.
Thank you, Kenn, for sharing this encouraging devotional with us today.
Blessings in the New Year.
Happy New Year Kenn,
Thank you for this today. I learned something new and encouraged also.
God bless.
Hi Kennedy. Thanks for the meditation. Love the idea of going forward but looking backward. Lots of applications there. Be well. Blessings to you.
Thanks Kenn.
Good advice as we start a new year.
Blessings.
Fancy that! A Nova Scotia man of cloth and sea teaching us about our most urban square because of his African experience. It is miraculous how God knits it all together. (ON)
Dear Kenn,
God bless you for today’s devotion. The proverb you used was chosen from a Ghana store of proverbs. I have learnt a lot from it.
Hello
Happy new year.
I’ve missed your messages.
They are unique to your experiences.
Thanks for sharing.
Hope to see more of them in 2024.
Kenn, thank you for this good point. Learning from past history, from our elders, and from the faith of our fathers is so necessary for each day. This wisdom truly can give us hope, especially as we remember the gift of a living hope because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:3-4
Thank you Kenn for this interesting and very meaningful devotional today. The title was definitely a new word for my vocabulary! We certainly need be so thankful having a loving Lord in our lives who cares for us and helps us go forward each day. Blessings for writing and it was good to see and read another devotional from you. May this New Year be a blessed one for you.
Thank you Kenn for today’s devotional. It was a great reminder to me that whether we look back or look forward we cannot help but see God’s goodness. Looking back we see and never can forget how God rescued and redeemed us and looking forward we see how He has not only changed us but continues to change and conform us and one day Oh praise His holy name we will be with Him forever in glory!!! Oh what a day that will be! Thank you for sharing such an encouraging and inspiring devotional today.
Really appreciated your column today. When I heard of the name change, I was sad and angry. All I could think was “ Oh no. They have dug up dirt on another one of our ancestors, forgetting what good he/she may have done. As Shakespear wrote “The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with the bones.” I had not found an explanation of the name Sankofa. (obviously I do not take full advantage of my internet).
Thank you for an inspiring piece to begin the new year.
Blessed 2024, Mr.Stright.
I live in Toronto, Ontario and am grateful for your Devotional message and to our Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ for His guidance for these words that provide answers to my prayers.
I teach a Spirit, Body, Mind Pain Management/Rhythmic Movement Class; today, your Devotional message will be heard during the Spiritual Work portion of the class — I had a different plan.
Your “Sankofa” reference resonates with me and is very relevant to Pain Management.
Thank YOU for these Holy Spirit inspiring words. Keep on.