Editorial The main theme of this issue is “Living and learning and passing it on” but, as usual, we have also included other bits and pieces of interest.

I recently read that “Learning requires having a historical sense, a respect for the past, and a consciousness that life is a continuity” (Encounter with God, April-June 2003, Scripture Union, page 92).

In recent times we have seen the “down sizing”, down-grading or removal of history departments in some of our universities. It seems that history has become unfashionable – an anachronism. If you want to supplant the culture of a nation, the first thing you need to do is to remove the people’s knowledge of their history.

History is important. From our history we gain strength and encouragement, and we learn from past failures. The reconciliation movement of the present time looks back on our history and then towards a future in which we acknowledge the mistakes of the past and look to a better future.

Another thing that seems to be going out of fashion is experience. The emphasis on youth has seen the casting aside of the older, more experienced members of the work-force in particular. No attempt is made to achieve a reasonable balance between introducing new blood (new ideas and youthful enthusiasm) and holding on to the corporate knowledge that has been built up over the years, so that the errors of the past are not repeated.

In this issue we have sought to tap the wisdom that comes from experience. Sometimes that might be in the form of a good piece of oral advice. Sometimes it might involve learning from the lessons of the past. It can also mean looking back and gaining an appreciation of how someone in our past loved us enough to set us on the right path.

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