“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.” – L.M. Montgomery
I am trying to remember…because I tend to forget, especially when things are dark and disorienting. Amidst all the disconnection and division over the last few years, I have found myself continually saying the words “I don’t know.” I don’t know what do to or how to do it. I don’t know what life will look like in a week, a month, a year. I don’t know what normal will be. I don’t know just how much people are hurting. I don’t know when the madness will stop. If it will stop. I don’t know.
When life gets hard and times are tough, in the midst of so much change and loss and transition and division—when it is “still dark,” as Easter morning is described in scripture—perhaps it is a good time to remember. I believe the way forward, and through divides, invites me to remember. It is good and right to dip into the ancient past because God tells the most surprising and transformative stories. That even in a world that keeps causing me to say, “I just don’t know,” I—along with those women who discovered life while it was still dark—am invited to remember…
Remember that from God and through God and to God are all things.
Remember that God holds all things together.
Remember that the whole earth is filled with God’s glory.
Remember that we are on holy ground.
Remember that God loves first.
Remember when there was manna; when there was enough.
Remember you, and me, and she and he and they, are all made in God’s image.
Remember I am the clay, and God is the potter.
Remember we are dust, and to dust, and to God, we shall return.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Remember that nothing will be able to separate me from God’s love.
Remember to be still and know that God is God.
Remember God’s mercies are new every morning.
Remember God became one of us and ate and drank and laughed and cried with us.
Remember that Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God.
Remember Jesus has a passionate love for those the world has little regard for.
Remember that Jesus always extended tables and flipped over tables.
Remember that Judas was still invited to the table.
Remember how Jesus gave his life in every way for everyone—past, present, future.
Remember his invitation, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
Remember and trust in the slow work of God.
Remember that God does some of the greatest work “while it is still dark.”
Remember who I am, whose I am, and what is mine to do.
Remember that I am still being re-made in the image of Christ.
Remember Christ is with us always, to the end of the age.
Remember my baptism.
Remember that God who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion.
Remember to love humanity like God does.
Remember to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God…because God has promised to walk with me day after day after day.
Perhaps what any of us do is largely living out what we believe—or remember—about God. This is how I am trying to navigate divides—by remembering. The way forward—the way of transformation—invites me, and the ones whom I serve, to actively remember.
1 comment
Brandon,
It is a humble man who betrays his pride by saying, “I don’t know”, and a more humble man who stops in the chaos around him to pause and remember. This is a HOLY reflection that I want to share with everyone I know!
We do forget don’t we? Any yet…as you say, God is with us, for us and walking with us every moment. Remembering will keep us courageous in these difficult times and focus us on what and who matters most. I love your reminder that determining the ‘HOW we get there’ is not up to us; but our faithfulness is. Let’s remember that too.
Thanks Brandon~