Memories

Remember, remember the 5th of November! Are you like me in remembering the time when as a group we made and displayed a scarecrow type guy and called out to passersby for contributions? I have a vivid recollection of the time when one of those passersby was my father! It was the last time I asked for ‘a penny for the guy’!
 
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is also a time when we remember those who died in two world wars. ‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them’. Those of us who lived through the second one will have special memories. One of mine was as an 8 year old I came out of school to be met by this huge man dressed in a grey RAF greatcoat. I didn’t know him but it was my father having returned home after years away serving in the forces during that war. I have many memories of the years that followed, some good, some not so good!
 
Do you have memories which you suppress because they hurt or disturb or embarrass or which you wish had never happened?
 
Harvard University has a medical school which has a human sciences faculty. I came across an interesting proposition which emanated from it. It says ‘In many ways our memories shape who we are. They make up our internal biographies – the stories we tell ourselves about what we have done with our lives. They tell us who we are connected to, who we’ve touched with our lives and who has touched us. In short, our memories are crucial to the essence of who we are as human beings’.
 
I wouldn’t dare to argue with such an eminent establishment but the Apostle Paul does! In 2 Corinthians 5 v 17 he tells us ‘if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, old things are passed away, all things become new’. The word ‘all’ includes memories. My experience is that in the new creation, memories aren’t wiped but they are given a new emphasis. The old hurts, regrets, foolishnesses and painful memories are turned from negative to positive. They no longer embitter us and weigh us down. They don’t shrink us anymore but God uses them for our growth as new persons.
 
As Christians we can use our memories positively. Psalm 143 v 5 tells us to ‘meditate on all God’s works and consider what He has done for us’. The old hymn gives great advice! ‘Count your many blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what The Lord has done’.
 
If you know anyone who is living an embittered existence because of past hurts, point them to Jesus, who will make them a new person.
Ian Jepps