A Time of Rememberance

A Day of Remembrance

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a day when we remember what brave men and women have done to protect our nation in times of war. We are to remember the men and women who gave the supreme sacrifice in defence of our country.

 In the later years of his life, the great 19th century American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson suffered from an increasingly faulty memory. When things would slip his mind, he complained of his "naughty memory," as he called it. Sometimes Emerson would forget the names of different objects. In order to speak of them, he would refer to them in a round-about way. For instance, when he could not think of the word "plow," he would call it "the implement that cultivates the soil." More important was the fact that he could not remember the names of people who were quite familiar to him. At the funeral of his friend, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Emerson commented to another person, "That gentleman has a sweet, beautiful soul, but I have entirely forgotten his name."            

The loss of memory is a sad thing. It cuts us off from days gone by. It strips away the treasured residue of past experience. It erases our personal history and leaves us unaccountably blank pages. Certainly it is unfortunate, inconvenient and at times embarrassing not to remember. Yet without a doubt, for some people the failure of memory is largely unavoidable.             

That is not always the case. Sometimes we are forgetful because we neglect that which has gone before us and become inattentive to those who have preceded us. We center all of our attention only on our own time and place. We act as though the present is all that matters and the past is some shabby thing that can be safely cast off and left behind like a worn-out pair of shoes.              

Here we are with Memorial Day upon us. On this occasion we are called upon to remember and respect those who have died, those whose days are gone. It is no surprise to us that many people do not reflect upon the past during this holiday any more than they do on any other day. Many people do not remember "the good old days". In our age of ever-accelerating change, we don't tend to look to the past to find our wisdom. We view what "has been" as largely irrelevant to what is now. The ancients are not our models. We place little value in traditions and inherited customs. And so when Memorial Day rolls around, our thoughts do not automatically turn to the past and to the departed. Most people appreciate Memorial Day largely because it is an extra day off work.             

Memorial Day is not expressly religious. It is secular. Nevertheless, it can serve to promote a value that is elevated throughout the Scriptures, that value being the importance of remembrance. You see, a failure of memory is not just something which leads to personal inconvenience or social embarrassment. It is a spiritual danger. A failure of memory in those things which are most significant results in a failure of faith. Forgetfulness erodes the foundation of our relationship with God. (NKJV) 17  But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:

(NKJV) 2  that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, Remember God's Word From the very beginning, Satan has attacked the Word of God. "Yea, hath God said?" was his opening thrust when he led Eve into disobedience in the Garden (). Once we begin to question God's Word, we are vulnerable to Satan's other attacks, for only the truth of the Word can protect us from the lies of the devil. "To the Law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them". Jude is speaking of the ones who are experiencing the love of God in their lives, and for that reason they are called "beloved." "Remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ." All the way through the Word of God, you will find that we are told to remember. In other words, we are to remember the Word of God. You and I should know the Word of God so that our memories can call it up when we need to have these great truths brought to our attention. You might say, I have trouble remembering. I have good news for you, the Holy Spirit will help you.