Pastor’s Corner: Memory

August 1, 2018

I can’t remember telephone numbers any more.

I used to remember them. I’d reach for that heavy unit hard-wired to the wall, and I’d simply dial a number without reference to anything but my own memory. I still remember a few of them. I could dial the number of the home where I grew up right now, despite the fact that nobody in the family has answered that number for decades.

Today, my telephone remembers more than I do. In fact, it remembers my appointments, my commitments, my shopping lists, amazing things I’ve seen, my wake-up time, and even my airplane tickets. It lets me mimic a terrific memory, because a quick glance tells me where I’m supposed to be, what I’m supposed to do, and sometimes even why I’m doing it.

Frankly, it’s not much different from the way I used pocket-sized calendars for years – I’ve never been good at carrying a calendar in my head. I am aware, however, that I have gratefully given up memorizing a host of other details.

I still remember precious things, though: my daughter’s voice, speaking and singing; my son’s graceful steps to accompany his grieving grandmother at his grandfather’s funeral; the scent of Easter lilies filling a church; the salt taste of sea spray upon my lips; the gentle warmth of morning sun upon my skin.

I don’t know if the phone numbers I don’t trouble to remember leave room for these other memories. Perhaps they do, perhaps they don’t. I am grateful, however, to recall these and countless more experiences of human love, of natural wonder, and Divine grace.

Someday, even if I don’t remember it all, I hope I still know to appreciate and give thanks for all this human love, natural wonder, and Divine grace.

With aloha,

Pastor Eric