Memory

Words are powerful.  Some words have a way of lingering long after they are read.  Such a word came in the reading of "Anam Cara,"  a book written by John O'Donohue.  "Yet, the future of every experience is its disappearance. This raises a fascinating question:  Is there a place where our vanished days secretly gather?  As a medieval mystic asked, 'Where does the light go when the candle is blown out?'  I believe there is a place where our vanished days secretly gather.  The name of that place is memory."    

I have almost wished I had not read those words and caused to consider the image they created.  Not only have they lingered, but they have caused me to long for deeper understanding than I seem to find as I see those words of the page.  Memory is, of course, a powerful God given gift.  It is not like the memory of a computer, but a memory that not only stores information, but also brings to mind the feelings which come with the vanished moment.   The warmth of a smile and the feel of the wind against the face cannot be stored on a computer chip.  Only a soul can hold such a treasure.    

That memory is a God given is indisputable.  Several hundred times the Word of God reminds those who read to remember.  Sometimes it seems that memories are lost, but just maybe God has created a place in eternity where treasures so precious are gathered and kept.  And then, again, maybe those vanished days that we remember can be shared to become a part of the memory of those who will come after us.