Our ability to reflect on the past is a gift often taken for granted. We all have memories we want to hold on to, and ones we wish we could forget. In either case, memories powerfully shape our present and future life.
A life worth living is a life worth reflecting on. And when we contemplate, our heart of gratitude expands in realizing the deep meaning and significance of our days.
Memories help us to connect not only with our own past but also with others.
There is great joy in remembering with each other. We want to make and capture memories with our loved ones to share in all our days ahead. And it is truly sad when these memories are gone – either through lost documentation or through declining health and disease.
Memories, good or bad, also shape our present and future actions.
How we tell our story – recall our memories – determines how we live in our story today, and how we plan to show up tomorrow.
A negative outlook might be due to a faulty or limited memory.
Here we have some choice. We can choose what to focus our attention on and how we remember.
This is not to change the past, but to consider again the story we are telling ourselves about it.
We can choose to honor the goodness and the beauty alongside the sorrow and pain of our story.
What’s more, we can connect our memories with the collective memories of God’s people – and together recall his faithfulness. This memory allows us to be joyful in hope, patient in hardships, and faithful in all that we do.
What will you remember? What stories will you choose to honor and commemorate?
So much has been done on our behalf and we’re living in such a grand story.
Take a moment to pause and remember.
It’s the least we can do, and it might change everything.
Photo by sarandy westfall on Unsplash
