In Order To Shape The Future

“Memories are the key – not to the past, but to the future.”– Corrie ten Boom Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom,  both born and died on this date (1892 and 1983, respectively), was one of the many thousands of ordinary people in World War II who risked their lives to save those who were being hunted by the Nazis as part of what would become known as the Holocaust. Captured and imprisoned for her actions, she survived the war to write about the experience in The Hiding Place.  It was one of many books she wrote while following her own advice to “remember things from the past in order to help shape the future” – a mandate for all who choose a life of writing and communication. [image error]Corrie ten Boom Also acclaimed for her work on behalf many other causes, she founded a church to serve those with mental disabilities and became a champion for foster children.   During her final year of life, she reflected on how she could have been killed or died at a much younger age and about the urgency she always felt to “do things for others.”  She said simply, “The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.”