Do Bad Memories Go Away In The Next Life?

[Duncan]

in light of Rememberance day tomorrow a lot of TV has been devoted to various wars and what vets recall. Some of them say that their are bad memories about their war experiences that have bothered them for decades. I was wondering if in the next life these horrible memories will go away? But what about bad memories in general that are un war related?

[rpn]

They will be made whole.  That means that the memories will no longer cause them pain or interfere with their lives (and not just because they'll have perfect bodies.  Also because the atonement will heal them, and they will believe it.   I suspect the memory will remain.  

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

in light of Rememberance day tomorrow a lot of TV has been devoted to various wars and what vets recall. Some of them say that their are bad memories about their war experiences that have bothered them for decades. I was wondering if in the next life these horrible memories will go away? But what about bad memories in general that are un war related?

Yes tomorrow people will give speeches about those of us who served in the armed forces...most of those is wars. If Christ is indeed the "Price of Peace" then when he comes he will bring with him the forgetting of all wars.

[CV75]

in light of Rememberance day tomorrow a lot of TV has been devoted to various wars and what vets recall. Some of them say that their are bad memories about their war experiences that have bothered them for decades. I was wondering if in the next life these horrible memories will go away? But what about bad memories in general that are un war related?

I think bad memories will cease to bother us. We will certainly remember the events that formed them, but also recognize that the Lord removed the pain and injury and leveraged our experieince for our good (D&C 122:7). I also think that as we occupy ourselves with the greater things the Lord has prepared for us to do, and build more memories in the eternities, we will keep memories in their proper place and have them play their proper role.

[Kenngo1969]

They will be made whole.  That means that the memories will no longer cause them pain or interfere with their lives (and not just because they'll have perfect bodies.  Also because the atonement will heal them, and they will believe it.   I suspect the memory will remain.  

Well said.  I concur.  I think that the sharp edges of painful memories will dull, and that pleasant memories, by contrast, will be brought into sharper focus.  (I don't know how much, in the process of progressing to become like our Heavenly Father, the past, present, and future will all coalesce into a single "now," but I suspect that will happen even to "small-g" gods to a certain extent.) As much as we might like to forget certain things that have happened to us, what George Santayana said about history in general also is true of our personal histories (at least in a sense, although we will not be forced to repeat unpleasant experiences): "Those who forget history are destined to repeat it."  I believe memory is the mother of Wisdom.  My $0.02, actual value $0.01950250125.

 

P.S.: Remember what Alma the Younger said about his conversion: even though he didn't forget his sins, he did forget the pain that was associated with them.

Edited November 11, 2013 by Kenngo1969

[ksfisher]

I think bad memories will cease to bother us. .

They'll cease to bother us if, through the atonement, we choose to let go of those memories. If we choose to hold onto them the Lord will respect our decision. A Christlike person forgives, heals, and moves on. The natural man holds onto the past and refuses to let go.

[thesometimesaint]

Yes tomorrow people will give speeches about those of us who served in the armed forces...most of those is wars. If Christ is indeed the "Price of Peace" then when he comes he will bring with him the forgetting of all wars.

 

I don't believe so. Even the horribleness of war gives us experience without which we can not become like God.

[Maidservant]

We have the symbol of Christ, who was resurrected with his wounds.  I have long pondered that.

[The Nehor]

I intend to become a god. That means omniscience. That means the bad memories stay. The perspective should help though.

[Buzzard]

Time again for me to quote my favorite non-Mormon (Though I am convinced he's cheering for our team in the afterlife), Brother Lewis:

 

“Son,'he said,' ye cannot in your present state understand eternity...That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, "No future bliss can make up for it," not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. And of some sinful pleasure they say "Let me have but this and I'll take the consequences": little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into their past and contaminate the pleasure of the sin. Both processes begin even before death. The good man's past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven: the bad man's past already conforms to his badness and is filled only with dreariness. And that is why...the Blessed will say "We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven, : and the Lost, "We were always in Hell." And both will speak truly.” 
― C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

[Lightbearer]

I am not so sure that we forget all the bad from this life if we have Eternal Life, because the very nature of being a God is to know good from evil. But I don't think we will be bothered by such memories because we will have an eternal perspective in all things. Yet the scriptures do say this:

 "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind."

(Old Testament | Isaiah 65:17)

 

 

[EllenMaksoud]

in light of Rememberance day tomorrow a lot of TV has been devoted to various wars and what vets recall. Some of them say that their are bad memories about their war experiences that have bothered them for decades. I was wondering if in the next life these horrible memories will go away? But what about bad memories in general that are un war related?

My personal testimony about bad memories is that Heavenly Father has almost entirely removed the pain of years and years of horrific abuse. The healing began just after my Baptism .  Not going into a lot of detail except to say the Healing can come. As to memories of combat situations in war, I can not speak to that.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

We have the symbol of Christ, who was resurrected with his wounds.  I have long pondered that.

But the wounds Christ still has are there for a purpose...he is whole in every other way.

[thesometimesaint]

The memories of war are also there for a reason. To remind us of how horrible war is.

[Kevin Christensen]

For current effective treatment of bad memories, check out EMDR.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMDR

The technique has the effect of reducing the emotional cascade that trauma attaches to memory. So a memory can be just a memory, not re-experiencing.

FWIW

Kevin Christensen

Pittsburgh, PA

[Freedom]

For current effective treatment of bad memories, check out EMDR.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMDR

The technique has the effect of reducing the emotional cascade that trauma attaches to memory. So a memory can be just a memory, not re-experiencing.

FWIW

Kevin Christensen

Pittsburgh, PA

this has proven to be very effective for competitive performers. My daughter had a dramatic injury in her sport last year and struggled with the memory each time she competed in the event that caused the injury. When she put this technique to the test as she stood in front of hundreds of live people and thousands of tv viewers, she relaxed and nailed her performance. Hours and $$ spent on sports therapy, though helpful with general stress, did little to help her deal with the utter terror. EMDR changed her life. It was remarkable.

But speaking to the main topic, I have come to see my life experiences, traumatic or otherwise, as being life lessons that are placed into perspective over time. I suspect we will look to the trauma of this life as we look to the struggles we suffered in kindergarten. An eternal perspective will place these events where they belong.

[Denise]

I don't know about trauma memories, but I do think thatwe must consider our highly imperfect way of translating any input to our senses and the huge deficit in our communications with others and the world in genera. Being made whole will include a bright understanding. This absense of the literary "seeing through a glass darkly" will enable us to see many of our bad memories change in the light of day to something entirely different than we originally perceived. 

[brightpath]

Nephi 22 which is Isaiah speaking says we will remember the bad things or memories no more.

[thesometimesaint]

Nephi 22 which is Isaiah speaking says we will remember the bad things or memories no more.

 

Please be a little more clear as to which Nephi you're talking about. What would be the point in not remembering the bad things?

[Calm]

Please be a little more clear as to which Nephi you're talking about. What would be the point in not remembering the bad things?

Since brightpath doesn't post often, I went and looked.  Probably 3rd.

 

 

1 And then shall that which is written come to pass: Sing, Obarren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child; for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.

 2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes;

 3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

 4 Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember thereproach of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

 5 For thy maker, thy husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel—the God of the whole earth shall he be called.

 6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.

 7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.

 8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

 9 For this, the waters of Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee.

 10 For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.

 11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted! Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

 12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

 13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

 14 In righteousness shalt thou be established; thou shalt be far from oppression for thou shalt not fear, and from terror for it shall not come near thee.

 15 Behold, they shall surely gather together against thee, not by me; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.

 16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

 17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall revile against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

[thesometimesaint]

The closest I see is verse 4. I don't believe it means that we will literally forget our life experiences. What is the point of this life if we don't learn from our experiences?

[brightpath]

Sorry but yes it is 3 Nephi 22. Isaiah says we will not remember the bad memories of this life. Isn't this a wonderful blessing of The Lord.

[thesometimesaint]

No it wouldn't be. I am who I am because of my experiences, be they good and/or bad. Imagine an eternal Groundhog Day.

[rodheadlee]

They will be made whole.  That means that the memories will no longer cause them pain or interfere with their lives (and not just because they'll have perfect bodies.  Also because the atonement will heal them, and they will believe it.   I suspect the memory will remain.  

This is what I have found to be true in my current life.

[brightpath]

Sorry but all the bad memories will be erased from our memory according to Isaiah