One stroke victim was being plied with all the usual "memory" questions in the hospital - "Where are you? What is your name? When were you born? Who is the Prime Minister of Australia?..." After the inquisitors had gone, she said to her family, "Don’t they know the answers to all those questions?"
Alas! Memory loss begins at a very early age! Whether it is expected manners, rules about tidying away the toys, or even a shopping list... domestic forgetfulness affects most families.
Somehow our keenest memory seems reserved for our highest priorities. It is said that Louis Pasteur had to be called from the laboratory to attend his own wedding - he had forgotten! His all-absorbing attention was focussed on his research, and, for the moment at least, his marriage was furthest from his mind!
We are shocked by this story of the great scientist, though I am sure the reality of marriage changed the way he viewed his priorities. The tragedy we see in old age is when people forget, not simply their most basic relationships, but also their most practical needs.
The recurring phrase at the funerals of returned service personnel is "Lest we forget" - words we find inscribed on war memorials too. The veterans are getting older. What do they fear the coming generations may forget? Some have been concerned that erstwhile enemies have become close trading partners. We are altogether too trusting, they seem to be saying. Most, I suspect, don’t want us to forget that war - even when it seems unavoidable and "just" - is a horrible business. Many who returned have been unable across the years to share with spouse or family the horrors they experienced.
In Psalm 78, the unknown Asaph is deeply concerned lest God’s people forget what God has done throughout their history. The stories have been passed down, Asaph says, "We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done" (v. 4).
The stories of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and the provision for their long journey to the promised land (vv. 12-16) - these stories were a constant reminder of God’s active protection and provision.
That is only one side of what the Lord did for them during the exodus. He also gave the ethical principles we know as the Ten Commandments and many practical rules for life in their new homeland. These too were to be passed on to successive generations. "Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands" (v. 7).
Sadly, we have a tendency to remember only our trials, our disasters, the times when things haven’t been "good", when they haven’t gone as we would have planned... and to forget the Lord’s faithfulness, the good times, his grace and love at work even when the going has been tough. And we forget our side of it too - as if God is obliged to be there for us, even when we don’t give him a thought unless things aren’t going right.
Jesus said to his friends, "I am the vine; you are the branches... Remain in me and I will remain in you" (Jn 15.4-5).
God’s power and help are available right enough - don’t forget!
| Prayer: Our heavenly Father, you have loved us with an everlasting love, and yet we live as if you aren’t there! We remember you at the hard times with a demanding expectation that you should come through for us. Help us to remember you all the time, so that in the hard times we will remember that you are still there to guide us through. Help us to support others who are so forgetful that they they don’t remember your love and grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen. |
And yet,
for all my life
we’ve celebrated
Christmas,
shared the love,
told the stories
of the coming
of the Christ child.
Even as we tried
to shut him out,
he changed
the world.
Wherever we see
human inhumanity,
we need to have
good memories
of redeeming grace.
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