-
Memorial Day, A Powerful Teaching Moment
Memorial Day is coming! How many homes and Sunday school classes will make the most of this teaching moment? History is full of memorials. This is a cultural teaching moment opportunity to train our children in the importance of remembering. If we don’t intentionally plan to remember, we won’t. If we don’t preserve what we remember, we forget the most important details, the meaning of the event, the lessons learned, the victories won. The Bible is full of memorials. From Jacob to the calling of Moses in Exodus, to set His people free and continuing throughout the Bible, God sets up memorials. In Genesis 31:45 we see Jacob setting up…
-
The Art of Remembrance
A toaster was all it took to throw me into a crisis of faith yesterday. I love toast as much as the next person, but it wasn't the actual toaster that triggered my downward spiral, but what the toaster represented. About a year ago, we as a family took a leap of faith and quit our jobs to move across the country with very little knowledge of what we would do for the Kingdom of God. In the process, we gave away all of our stuff… yep even our toaster. There is something freeing about unencumbering oneself of earthly possessions, that is until you need said earthly possessions. Fast forward…
-
Memorial Day, Remembering to Remember
Monday is Memorial Day. How many homes and Sunday school classes will make the most of this teaching moment? Is it true that most Americans see Memorial Day more as a celebration for the beginning of summer than the freedom/flag day that was intended? There are homes and churches who will recognize their veterans and celebrate their sacrifice. Most churches will praise God for our freedom and pray for the families of the fallen. How many will look historically at the beginning of this great holiday and understand that it is a memorial set to remember the price willingly paid to free thousands from slavery and to keep a country…
-
Memories, A Legacy or Lifeline?
A popular storyline recurring regularly recounts the tragedy of a person who loses their memory due to some tragic event. Then, beset with amnesia, the hero searches for what has been lost and the story unfolds. Remembering and recovering becomes a victory. In a similar way, the devastating illness of Alzheimer’s robs a person of their memories and devastates those who love them. Losing the lifeline of memories becomes a living heartbreak. Memories represent the legacy of a life and become a lifeline . Yet as I was reminded by a young pastor some years ago Jesus knows we are a forgetful people. He instituted a special meal to jog…
-
Leaky Buckets
When I was a little girl, I watched “Captain Kangaroo” on TV. His friend Mr. Green Jeans wore green overalls, to which he would pin little pieces of paper like Post-It Notes (long before they were invented). I remember him pulling off each square and reading it out loud to remind him of something he needed to do. At the time, I thought it was a silly thing for a grown-up to do. I get it now. The older I get, the more memory assistance I need. I don’t know, really, that it’s so much about growing older, but rather about the overwhelming glut of information that cascades over me…
