Remembering

Driving home last night, it was sweet to see the fireflies out in full force. It reminded me of the nights at Abilene State Park. We sat in lawn chairs watching the remains of our supper fire and basking in the glow of thousands of fireflies flickering in the branches of the trees.

Taking off of a wonderful essay by Frederick Buechner titled "A Room Called Remember", I have been thinking about the importance of remembering and how memories just jump up spontaneously--a snatch of a song, a photograph curling in the drawer, smells that remind one of home, a random conversation, etc.

For example, Sunday morning Brandon chose to include This Is My Father's World in the worship service. No one but he and I knew that the song was his father's favorite hymn. It was a sweet rememberance. There is this commercial on TV about Nexium in which an older couple sit in a room covered with flowered wallpaper which has triggered a memory in my life I can't quite get to. The musty smell of an old room covered in wallpaper lies somewhere back there--I guess it will come up soon to my consciousness, and I will be able to quit stewing over it.

Monday night at a Bible Study, Pat Ward spoke of how faithful God had been in her life despite many trials. That is one of the important reasons God gave us memory. Buechner speaks of "...a strength beyond our strength(that) pulled us through at least to this day" and a "wisdom beyond our wisdom (that) has flickered up just often enough to light us."

Thank you God for the memories of your faithfulness in our good life and for your promised care to the end.