Lightning Bugs

There is about a half mile of dirt road which stretches from the place called home here on the farm to the paved road.  It is not much of a road, but more like a two rut dirt lane which leaves the openness of the hay fields and enters an area shadowed by the canopies of tall trees which stand tall and strong.  The other evening just after sunset I set out for an evening walk to the paved road and back.  By the time I got back to the place where the branch runs under the road through cement culverts, it was mostly dark and I suddenly found myself surrounded by lightning bugs.     

I had not seen any of these glowing insects in years and suddenly it was like I was a boy again chasing after them with a jar in hand.  Of course, old men do not run through the woods in the dark chasing lightning bugs, so I just remembered the boy I used to know who did it long before he could envision becoming an old man,  The memory brought a good time back into the present for a moment in such a way as to make an old man grateful for the gift of memory.    

Memory is an important part of who we are.  As we read the Word of God, we constantly are hearing God telling the Hebrews to remember how He had delivered them from Egypt.  And an important part of the Jesus story is the part where He commanded the disciples to share a simple meal of bread and wine in remembrance of Him.  We all have our memories of being a child and doing childish things and we also are all blessed with memories of important spiritual moments which have directed the course of our journey toward our eternal home. To remember is to use a gift from our Creator.  To remember is the prelude toward thanksgiving.  To remember helps us to stay grounded on the road we first started walking long years ago.  It helps us get where we are going.