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| Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others. Rosa Parks |
Why we
remember. The Today show was full of
people remembering. They were
remembering 9/11, the Holocaust, and slavery.
Lonnie Bunch was interviewed about the upcoming opening of the National
African American Museum. During the
interview he said: "We try to find the tension between the moments that
will make you ponder the pain of slavery and segregation and the moments where
you find the joy in the resiliency of the community." Memories-- we may run from them dwell too
long in them or carry the sum of them into our future.
When our daughter and her two
friends were young they were constantly making memories. This was before cell phones, Facebook, and
Snapchat made this task a bit easier. Whether they were getting ready for a
dance or peeling potatoes I would hear them call; "Take a picture, we are
making memories!" Even as young
teens they knew they might want to hang on to this time together even if it
were only in a photo.
Facebook
understands this desire to look back; "This day three years ago you posted
this--!" Of course not all memories
are ones we wish to share again; occasionally the memory pops up that leaves
you wondering about the “hows”and “whys” of life.
From the drawings in caves to the
social media of today, people have been preserving memories. Diaries and blogs, letters stored in attics,
antique stores and scrap booking are all trying to hold on to something, to say
something to the "someone one day" who might look at what we saw and
what we had to say. We search old family
photos of people we never new looking for some resemblance, some likeness to
connect us to the past.
Religion is a way we connect
ourselves to the past while moving toward the future. We tell stories of perseverance, courage and
survival. People gather and they pray
familiar prayers, they sing familiar songs, they eat and they practice their
faith that connects them to those who have gone before them. Others celebrate through traditions of
hunting, climbing mountains, art, music, fishing and food!
On a PBS special on Hasidic Judaism,
a grandfather told his grandson; "I survived so that you might live. And there you have it--- why do we
remember--so that life might go on.
"'In
the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and
daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will
dream dreams.” Acts:2:17
So take pictures, sew
quilts, knit, sing, paint, build and cook your todays into tomorrows!
Sunday will be 15 years since 9/11;
some of us will be lighting candles by the water in Hallowell, where ever you are
---remember.
