I’m not so biblical as to harp on the various incarnations of “sin” or the virtue of “repentence,” but I do find, through my experiences with the world, that we all do things that we regret. Of course we do – mistakes are part of learning and part of life.
I once read that Japanese workers at Toyota were genuinely excited when they discovered they had made a mistake. To us, mistakes are embarassing and shameful, however to them, mistakes were opportunities to improve.
In order to take advantage of these opportunities to improve we must remember the mistakes.
As with persomal mistakes, we must also remember the tragedies and atrocities of the past. It is not always pleasant to remember the past, but it is our responsibility to bear witness. We must preserve our memories, pass down our lessons to future generations, and vigorously refute those who deny the events of the past.
Memory is our greatest weapon for preserving righteousness in the world, but it is the ability to forget that allows us to continue living our lives.