Jesus Remember Me...

            Around this time, I generally try to dedicate an article to a dear friend of mine. I thought about not doing it this year, seeing that it has been three years since I last saw her, but as I pondered what else to write about, things like elections and what’s going on in the world, I found that the bonds of friendship are a lot stronger than anything I could ever write about.

            Have you ever been so entranced by a memory that it feels real? Have you ever been so ready to reach out and touch the memory that when you realize it’s a memory you yourself begin to weep at the thought of it not being reality? Such memories are special, Godly, and blessed, but they are also dangerous. Here’s why:

            Frederick Buechner in his iconic sermon, A Room Called Remember preached these words, “In one sense the past is dead and gone, never to be repeated, over and done with, but in another sense, it is of course not done with at all or at least not done with us. Every person we have ever known, every place we have ever seen, everything that has ever happened to us, it all lives and breathes deep inside us whether we like it or not.”

            Memories, they make us who we are. God has blessed us with memories to enjoy, to recall, to find the fruition of God’s work in our lives. Anything could call back these memories, an old photograph I saw the other day had me pondering what to write about for this article. I’m a firm believer that God leaves little hints for us to remember, sometimes so that we might recall the beauty of an event, sometimes to remind us never to go to that place again. These memories are the epitome of God’s creative ideas and purpose.

            So when I miss my friend I lost, when I see the memories that bring me back to a time and place that I cannot go again, I may be sad, but God is working, God is recreating, God is restoring the fullness of God’s creation in me. God is bringing about God’s kingdom in my life through my memories.

            When all has been said and done on this earth, I’m confident that our memories will still remain. When we get to what lies beyond death we will have our memories, because they have given us drive and purpose. I’m reminded of the criminal on the side of Jesus when he was on the cross that pleaded with Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom. I often wish we’d plead with Jesus too… Jesus remember me, when you come into your kingdom. Jesus hears, Jesus remembers. So we should too. I won’t see my friend again this side of Heaven, but I know that in the best thing I can do to cherish the life she lived is to remember, to remember and to live. Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.