The Gift of Memory

Creation has its beautiful sunsets that inspire us  and its dark storms which frighten.  Not all our memories within creation are good, but neither are they all bad.  So it is with all our memories.  Some fill us with great joy, filling our hearts with a wonderful warm light and others remind us of the dark and painful moments of our life.  Even as we recognize this reality, we also know that memories are gifts.  Even the hard ones full of darkness have on the edges memories of those who helped us, or the strength and courage shown in those hours.      

My memories of the night we were told my father was dead and the memory of the funeral which followed are hard memories, but he is not remembered just in light of those difficult moments.  What has come to be a personal reality is that for him to remembered after sixty-five years have passed means that he continues to live as a presence and influence in the deep places of my heart.  While I would never have chosen for his life to end so early, I am grateful for the memories which have kept his life always before me.     

Memories can be seen as a gift from God as surely as the evening display at sunset.  In Deuteronomy 15:15 the Word says, "Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; and the Lord your God redeemed you..."   Even though some of the memories may bring tears to our eyes and pain to our heart, they, too, like the memory of the God who comes to us in those hours, are gifts that cause the deliverance of God to once again give birth to hope in our hearts.