MEMEORY
I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
Genesis 9:15
My friend is beginning to lose her memory. This woman who I worked with for twenty years, who corralled the kids at lunch in the school cafeteria, who was loved by them so much that they all called her “Grandma,” is having problems remembering what’s going on in her life. She called at 7 this morning and I have heard from her four times since. Because we’ve been friends for more than forty years, she calls me. I try to calm her and reassure her that I will always be here if she needs me. It’s usually the same problem about some upcoming date that has her worried. Because she knows her memory is unreliable and she doesn’t want to miss an important event, she calls me. I want her to trust me with that, to be her calming place. It’s a small thing, but it’s something I can do to help.
How is your memory? I forget where I put my keys or my cell phone. I lose track of appointments. I write notes to myself all the time. I know that if I need help, I can call on God. Yes, God has helped me find my keys and my cell phone from time to time. I have to remember to call on God. For me, prayer is an ongoing
conversation. Sure, it’s interrupted from time to time by other events, but I feel I can always talk to God about anything. Mark 11:24 says, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Now, that doesn’t always work out the way we think it will. Our ideas are not God’s ideas (that’s in the book of Isaiah), but I find that remembering that God has made promises to us and that we can count on friendship with God is a very big deal!
I will extend my friendship to this fine woman who, in her nineties, is losing track of things because I value our shared history. It’s the right thing to do. It’s a way of extending the love God gives to me. Remembering what God has done for me inspires me to find ways to pass it on.
Creator of the Universe, you have shown by the example of Christ how to remember who we are and whose we are. Help us always to move forward in faith and respond in love. Amen.
Sue Uzelmeier
