"History merely repeats itself"

The thing that hath been, 
it is that which shall be; 
and that which is done 
is that which shall be done: 
and there is no new thing under the sun.
 - Ecclesiastes 1:9

I love this verse.

The New Living Translation says it this way:  "History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new."

As I pondered this, a couple of thoughts came to mind:

1. This is why we are encouraged in the Book of Mormon to remember the captivity of our fathers.  Just as our fathers needed Jesus Christ to deliver them, so do we today find ourselves in spiritual and sometimes physical bondage, but Jesus can deliver us too.

2. We can look back to our pre-earth life for insight and wisdom that guides us today.  What we experience here is a pattern of what was experienced before.  We see that our great heavenly family is a pattern of our families on earth.  There is always a fight between good and evil.  We can always count on the Savior to be true to His promises, and we can also assume that Satan will promise the world and then break those promises once we are captive to him.

And in the U.S., it seems appropriate that I read these verses today, on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

#comefollowme #911Remembrance