Remembering the Name

While I had the usual number of grandparents, I only have memory of my Granddaddy Hale.  By the time I came to the age of memory, all the others were gone.  The other day I saw a bottled RC Cola sitting in some ice and when I paid for it, I told the disinterested clerk that I was buying it because it was my granddaddy's favorite drink.  I remember him drinking an RC, rolling his own tobacco from a Prince Albert Can, cutting me joints of cane with his pocket knife, and telling me stories I have mostly forgotten.  But, the other day I remembered him not only with the purchase of an overpriced cola, but also by calling his name.    

Since being here at the farm I have become a name caller.  Aloud I often speak the name of someone from my own family, or my wife's family.  They are not here to hear their name being called, but it is my way of keeping their memory alive in my heart.  It is my way of honoring them.  I have also decided it is a Biblical thing to do.    How many times does the Word of God remember the patriarchs by saying, "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...?"  

Throughout the story of God's people, their names are called and remembered.  Not only in Genesis do we encounter their names, but also in places like the burning bush, Mt. Sinai, Peter's post Pentecost preaching, and in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Church at Rome.  There and in other places they are remembered and honored by the calling of their names.  So, I call the names of those who have left this life and are remembered in the memory God has given me.  I hope one day when I am a part of that great crowd of heavenly witnesses that someone will remember and call my name as well.