“You can't heal what you don't acknowledge.” So concluded the much-travelled Star Trek's Captain Kirk.
This goes for nations as well as individuals, whichever galaxy you may happen to find yourself in. To admit the truth is always the first step to freedom.
However, it may well be painful.
This Monday, as I blogged last week, I was in Budapest, about to return home. As we walked across Freedom Square we were drawn to an impressive water feature, which had drawn a sizeable number of people in the hot sunshine.
I soon discovered that it was part of an awe-inspiring monument in vivid white stone, clearly very recently installed, depicting the Nazi occupation of Hungary and the subsequent holocaust.
This featured archangel Gabriel (as I later discovered) standing in for Hungary about to be attacked by a fearsome eagle with its talons drawn, representing the German aggressor.
Some of the pillars alongside had been broken off – I assumed an integral part of its design. But then I realized that many of the people were not playing but protesting. There was a makeshift notice telling the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, to tear down his monument. Some demonstrators had already damaged the columns.
Their reason? For this monument, in all its splendour, was seeking to rewrite history.
Hungary was not invaded by the Wehrmacht; in fact, the Hungarian government had decided to ally with the Germans in 1940, albeit under pressure from Hitler. Furthermore, as our earlier visit to the Holocaust Museum made clear, the terror inflicted on the large Jewish population from 1944 needed the active participation of many Hungarians.
If Hungary is to move forward, argue the demonstrators, past mistakes and more, past crimes, must be acknowledged. And because most of the individuals involved have long since died, it is for the government to admit the truth. The victims and their families expect no less.
The stand-off is still to be resolved.
But we are in no position in throw stones. Here near Liverpool we live in a top-of-the-range glass house largely financed by the 18th century slave trade.
A spokesperson for Liverpool Council said in 1999; “We can’t hide our history, it is built into the foundations of many institutions and buildings.
“What we can do is apologise. This is what we are doing, offering our unreserved remorse for the history of slave trading.”
So the City Council made a formal apology for our city's involvement in the slave trade. I thought at the time that the apology was two centuries too late but now I realise that this is the only way to confront our past and deal with past wrongs.
For as a café awning in central Budapest reads “things of the past live always with us.” That’s why the Hillsborough families persevered and why the South Yorkshire Police need to live by their apology. The families of the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre in Northern Ireland showed a similar persistence.
So we need to face up to our past, to acknowledge any wrong-doing and to seek forgiveness – even if it is not readily accepted. Speaking the truth in love is often painful.
My current Bible daily reading from BRF Guidelines features 1 Kings. With 2 Kings it is one single narrative with the major theme of confronting Israel’s past failures, her disobedience, even her sin. In no way does the writer gloss over his nation’s guilt. This is in stark contrast to any other imperial narrative.
So in introducing 1 Kings 2 the commentator writes: “David counsels Solomon before his death, and what he says has often struck commentators as harsh and out of character for God’s favourite king. However, part of the author’s approach is to paint a full picture of the king, including the honourable and despicable qualities.”
And what goes for nations goes for each of us. We do not do the spiritual equivalent of a member of one of my previous churches of stuffing all his bills unopened behind his hall radiator. Nothing is ever gained by denying reality.
As disciples of Jesus we are secure in our relationship with him. So we can take him at his word: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”(John 8:31)
So whatever may be lurking in our closet, we need to boldly confront and confess. Above all, to ourselves. Only then may we be truly free.