Remembering is Being

A couple of days ago, I went to the Holocaust Museum (of Houston). Spending time in a place that has as its sole purpose the remembrance of horror and large-scale embodiment of evil is a singular and sobering experience. But what is the purpose of the remembrance itself?

While at the museum, a quote from Elie Wiesel caught my eye; while I can't remember it exactly and am not having success in finding it right now, the essence of the quote was this:

Remembering is being.

If the Holocaust and its unfathomable, infinite consequences are not remembered, then it becomes even easier for twisted humans to repeat the whole affair again in perhaps even more destructive ways. Of course, there have been (and there are currently) other genocides since World War II. In fact, we all know and will sometimes admit that we all participate in twisted selfishness on a daily basis--the kind that, if combined with the ugliness of other humans, can easily lead to ravenous hatred and incurable passivity.

But the act of remembering teaches us to be more willing to admit personal responsibility for evil and act to stop it even if our own individual activity seems not to affect evil on a global scale. Remembering helps to stop the cycle of sin on a personal level, thereby allowing us to Be more in the essence of how God created us.

There is another aspect to remembering, one that repeatedly pops up in Scripture and which also helps us to Be, and that is this: remembering what God has done in the past reminds us of Who He Is. He is Power. He is Faithful. He is Love and Lover. He is Creator. He is Wise. He is Gentle. He is Passion and He is Shepherd.

And what is it to be His follower if not a daily reflection on His grace as displayed in His humble, forever-sacrifice on the Cross?

Remembering Him is how we know Him more intimately and trust Him unswervingly.

Being--alive, free and whole--truly is remembering our own sickness and His incomprehensible, eternal healing of that sickness.

Life as Grass

In Psalm 103, the contrast between the fragility of man and the eternality of God is palpable. Without the immortal and unchanging compassion of God, humans would be destined to life as grass....

But God, "abounding in love," has broken through humanity's (weak) rebellious defenses and touched us with forgiveness and undeserved kindness. And that one touch is enough to draw us out of the dusty temporal into the glorious Forever.

"Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name."
(Ps. 103:1)

The Birthday Post

"Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live." (Is. 55:2-3)

26 years. How quickly they have gone; and yet I haven't begun to taste eternity. Everything I've experienced, everything I have, everything that happens today, tomorrow or ten years from now is a result of God's grace and intentional intervention in my life.

And still the invitation to come closer, to breathe more deeply the fragrance of Christ is extended. The Father, who may be angry for a moment, offers the rich banquet feast of compassion, justice, forgiveness, mercy and grace forever. That which is given is good because He is Goodness and uses even evil and sin for His good purposes.

Nothing ever has--and nothing ever will--halt the plans and works of God to bring me on the Journey to Home. Oh, I know that my passions may rage or my faith may falter, but the reasons I rage or doubt are never divorced from Really Knowing Him. In fact, every time I send myself or am sent into the 'depths of despair' or the heights of ecstasy, I know it is just a quest to try and figure Him out.

Without Him, there is no life.
With Him, there is life: full, wild, terrifying, excruciating, abundant, immeasurable.

These 26 years, they are for You because You wrote them.