Healing of Memories

The Secret of true freedom and a Happy Life

The past has gone, but the human memory still makes it present. Remembering delightful moments of the past is a thing of joy. The problem lies with the memory of past hurts. This could either be what others have made us suffer or the pains we have inflicted on others. It could either be some severe mistakes we have made in the past or some opportunities we have lost which today keep on weighing us down. In any of these cases, there is one common problem as regards past hurts: they give rise to a wounded memory, and such memory keeps a person a prisoner in the past. The person is caged in the past although living in the present. It makes one live a life of continuous regrets. It forces the person to carry pieces of loads of past hurts suffered or inflicted or mistakes made, and such loads weigh one down on a daily basis. Such heavy loads affect the physical, psychological and spiritual life of the individual involved. In such a situation one is suffering twice: the actual pain experienced/inflicted and the continuous recollection and suffering of it in the memory which affects the whole person.

Here, one is free to read only some part of the first chapter that deals with the multidimensional understanding of the term 'healing'. From chapter two onwards, the actual process of 'healing of memories' begins. Going through this process, makes one experience a type of freedom and happiness one has never experienced in life. 

Don Celestino Ezemadubom is a Catholic priest from Nigeria. He was ordained in 1999. He is staying for a short while in Italy as a chaplain of a Nigerian Catholic community in Modena. He has his bachelors in Philosophy and Theology from Bigard Memorial Seminary Enugu affiliated to Urban University Rome and his licence and doctorate in theology from St. Thomas Aquinas University(Angelicum) Rome. 
He majored in Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue. To practise true Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue, an indispensable instrument becomes dialogue. Dialogue may be actually difficult when those involved have wounded memories. This calls for healing of memories as the first step in such a situation. This is what led the author to go into the research on 'healing of memories'. In carrying out the research, he discovered that the process of healing of memories is not meant only to facilitate ecumenical dialogues and interreligious activities, it is a process that has an excellent value for every human being. The process is also very vital to the society. The different wars we have today are due to the wounded social memories. If such social memories are not healed, the chain of wars may continue to go round. 
Many people today are suffering due to the pains of what took place in their lives in the past. These people do not know how to go about it or to free themselves from these pains. Lamentation and rumination most often become the mistaken way to address these pains. But this worsens the person's situation rather than helping the person. The right and the only way is to go through the process of 'healing of memories' which liberates the person from the pains of these past events and makes the person live a happy life again. This book is a synthesis of a doctoral thesis on 'healing of memories'. It is meant for all - believers and unbelievers, young and old, men and women. Its goal is to bring happiness, joy and serenity to the life of all who will go through the process.