Remembering
“What can I do to always remember who I really am?” – Juan Ramon Jiminez
Journeying back into our memories. This can be such a rewarding exercise of renewing and reconnecting to our beginnings and to who we really are.
My wife and I recently took a road trip of remembering. In honor of our anniversary, we headed back to our beginnings—a little farming town in Wyoming. It had been 40 years since we’d been there. We were delighted to see the iconic water tower still standing tall. Our favorite restaurant is still serving their delightful prime rib. The town park where we would let our rambunctious puppy run free was as beautiful as ever. The very first church we called home was an even sweeter country chapel than we had remembered. Its steeple rising to the sky, as if to say, “Here I am, worship here.” And our special little house. It took a while to recognize it, but there it was! We pulled it up online to see inside and recall special times we had inside. We were so very young and naïve, but we thought we had the world by its bootstraps. What a fun time of remembering!
As these times are in the rear-view mirror, we can only go back in our memories. But in those memories, they are forever etched.
The practice of remembering—especially a fond memory—has many health benefits. Research has found it can improve a mood and stimulate inspiration. Remembering can provide a window into your authentic self (a series of 2015 studies published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology).
Remembering can give a greater sense of meaning and purpose to your life. It helps weave together the threads of your life story. A 2018 study found that remembering even helps enhance the emotional health among people with dementia (U.S. News, Dec 26, 2018, Stacey Colino).
In the process of daily living, we are caught up in a subtle form of forgetting without realizing it. We have deadlines to meet. We have messy-at-times relationship challenges, hardships to hurdle, and the mundane daily challenges of too many red lights or a parking space seemingly impossible to find. Let alone, when life throws us a big curveball. All these hurdles cause us to feel separate and disconnected.
What we need is a practice that enables us to slow down, take a deep breath, and enjoy a moment of remembering who we are, what we are about, and where we are going.
On this same trip of revisiting our beginnings, I experienced “looking back” in a stark way while zipping along in our little Mini Cooper on a windy two-lane highway. I was entirely focused on what was ahead. I spotted a vehicle in my lane headed straight for us, passing the approaching cars. This car cut it way too close! He was on the wrong side of a double-yellow line—you know the one informing him he shouldn’t cross! I slowed down to give him space. Yet, to my surprise, there was another car behind him passing as well! Now I had to hit the brakes hard to give this second car enough room. My moment of feeling relief was interrupted by dreaded braking sounds. The cars behind us were aggressively stopping as well. I fearfully watched in my rear-view mirror the string of vehicles, including an 18-wheeler trying their best to avoid a pileup. Thankfully, there were no collisions.
It was another lesson in the need to remember what’s behind.
I think of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She encourages us to remember. Mary did her best to soak up all the amazing events of the childhood of Jesus and her special times with her son. After the shepherds visited her newborn in the stable, excitedly telling Mary of their angelic encounter, it is said she “pondered” these things (Luke 2:19). She reflected on it, trying to piece it all together and make sense of it. The root meaning of the word ponder is “to meet or to join.” And that’s the benefit of the practice of remembering, we piece our story together and make better sense of things. And not only did Mary ponder the memories of her son, she “treasured” them!
Remembering can become for us a wonderful prayerful practice as well. Let me explain:
Take one of your favorite childhood memories and grab a journal and pen. With a prayerful heart, ask God to help you remember the details of a special childhood memory. Journal your experience. Recall every loving moment. What were you thinking and feeling? Why was it so special to you? Who was there? Feel the joy in your heart once again. Be thankful for that beautiful event in your life.
Now, once again go to your special memory, and this time ask Jesus (with an open heart to hear from Him) what He was doing behind the scenes to help make it so special. That’s right, He was there too! How did He help orchestrate that moment just for you? What was He feeling at the time? Journal what you hear and praise Him for His infinite love for you!
What can we do to remember who we are? Turning a special memory into a prayer is one beautiful way. Try it and see.
Journeying back into our memories. This can be such a rewarding exercise of renewing and reconnecting to our beginnings and to who we really are.
My wife and I recently took a road trip of remembering. In honor of our anniversary, we headed back to our beginnings—a little farming town in Wyoming. It had been 40 years since we’d been there. We were delighted to see the iconic water tower still standing tall. Our favorite restaurant is still serving their delightful prime rib. The town park where we would let our rambunctious puppy run free was as beautiful as ever. The very first church we called home was an even sweeter country chapel than we had remembered. Its steeple rising to the sky, as if to say, “Here I am, worship here.” And our special little house. It took a while to recognize it, but there it was! We pulled it up online to see inside and recall special times we had inside. We were so very young and naïve, but we thought we had the world by its bootstraps. What a fun time of remembering!
As these times are in the rear-view mirror, we can only go back in our memories. But in those memories, they are forever etched.
The practice of remembering—especially a fond memory—has many health benefits. Research has found it can improve a mood and stimulate inspiration. Remembering can provide a window into your authentic self (a series of 2015 studies published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology).
Remembering can give a greater sense of meaning and purpose to your life. It helps weave together the threads of your life story. A 2018 study found that remembering even helps enhance the emotional health among people with dementia (U.S. News, Dec 26, 2018, Stacey Colino).
In the process of daily living, we are caught up in a subtle form of forgetting without realizing it. We have deadlines to meet. We have messy-at-times relationship challenges, hardships to hurdle, and the mundane daily challenges of too many red lights or a parking space seemingly impossible to find. Let alone, when life throws us a big curveball. All these hurdles cause us to feel separate and disconnected.
What we need is a practice that enables us to slow down, take a deep breath, and enjoy a moment of remembering who we are, what we are about, and where we are going.
On this same trip of revisiting our beginnings, I experienced “looking back” in a stark way while zipping along in our little Mini Cooper on a windy two-lane highway. I was entirely focused on what was ahead. I spotted a vehicle in my lane headed straight for us, passing the approaching cars. This car cut it way too close! He was on the wrong side of a double-yellow line—you know the one informing him he shouldn’t cross! I slowed down to give him space. Yet, to my surprise, there was another car behind him passing as well! Now I had to hit the brakes hard to give this second car enough room. My moment of feeling relief was interrupted by dreaded braking sounds. The cars behind us were aggressively stopping as well. I fearfully watched in my rear-view mirror the string of vehicles, including an 18-wheeler trying their best to avoid a pileup. Thankfully, there were no collisions.
It was another lesson in the need to remember what’s behind.
I think of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She encourages us to remember. Mary did her best to soak up all the amazing events of the childhood of Jesus and her special times with her son. After the shepherds visited her newborn in the stable, excitedly telling Mary of their angelic encounter, it is said she “pondered” these things (Luke 2:19). She reflected on it, trying to piece it all together and make sense of it. The root meaning of the word ponder is “to meet or to join.” And that’s the benefit of the practice of remembering, we piece our story together and make better sense of things. And not only did Mary ponder the memories of her son, she “treasured” them!
Remembering can become for us a wonderful prayerful practice as well. Let me explain:
Take one of your favorite childhood memories and grab a journal and pen. With a prayerful heart, ask God to help you remember the details of a special childhood memory. Journal your experience. Recall every loving moment. What were you thinking and feeling? Why was it so special to you? Who was there? Feel the joy in your heart once again. Be thankful for that beautiful event in your life.
Now, once again go to your special memory, and this time ask Jesus (with an open heart to hear from Him) what He was doing behind the scenes to help make it so special. That’s right, He was there too! How did He help orchestrate that moment just for you? What was He feeling at the time? Journal what you hear and praise Him for His infinite love for you!
What can we do to remember who we are? Turning a special memory into a prayer is one beautiful way. Try it and see.
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