Perceptions #19

"The Power of Remembering"

by Norman Bales

In a few days, United States residents will celebrate Memorial Day, one of our national holidays. We won't expect mail delivery and some business services won't be available. Government offices will shut down.

Memorial Day weekend means fun time for most people - a picnic in the park if all the tables aren't already taken, family gatherings and volleyball in the back yard. You can expect a run on charcoal and bagged ice. There's nothing wrong with taking some time to enjoy the day, although we should not forget the fact that some folks have to work. It's probably not going to be a whole lot of fun for the employees at supermarkets, yard and garden centers and discount stores, who have to put up with all those people who use their leisure time to poke around through the merchandise.

Actually Memorial Day is supposed to have a serious purpose. It started back in 1868 when General John A. Logan, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, designated the day as one in which graves of the soldiers who died in the Civil War would be decorated. The day was called Decoration Day and gradually became known as Memorial Day. Through the years, the emphasis switched first from honoring the Civil War dead, to those who died in all our wars, to all the military dead. By the middle of the twentieth century it had evolved into a time to decorate the graves of loved ones in general.

It's good that we have a time to remember. Just recently I visited the graves of my mother and father. We've arranged for new flowers to be placed on those graves on Memorial Day. A visit to the grave sites of our parents sometimes releases a flood of memories and in the process contributes to some soul searching and assessment of our values in life.

While some people become obsessed with nostalgia and seem to have their minds stuck somewhere in the past, others use memory as a stimulus to confront the future. In the face of persecution, Paul asked Timothy to recall the faith that "first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice" (2 Timothy 1:5). Later he encouraged him to recall "how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). While we are remembering things this weekend, focus on the foundations of your faith, not just to recall the good old days, but to spur yourself into renewed commitment to Christ. There's power in memory when it is properly channeled.

Norman's e-mail address is: nlbales@allaboutfamilies.org

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