Memory Lane

"The memory of the righteous is blessed"

Proverbs 10:7

I read an interesting article last week.  I forget what it was about, though.  I know it was interesting, and I know I learned from it, but I can't remember....

Oh, I know!  It was about memory!

The article was interesting because it was on the study of extremes:  a man whose memory only lasted a few minutes at a time; and a woman who can remember every detail about every day of her life, since her childhood.

I don't know which of those would be worse.

The first part of the article was about the woman, and I thought, "what a burden!"  I think there would be so much clutter in my head if I remembered what I had for lunch on a specific Tuesday seventeen years ago.

And I think there would be so much pain in remembering things I would rather forget.  Ignorance is bliss, they say, and that bliss can be achieved not just by not knowing things you don't want to know, but also by forgetting things you don't want to know!

I don't know how that woman feels about having a memory like that, but she doesn't know any other way.  I am very thankful that this is part of how God protects my mind from arrows of the enemy in the form of relentless regret for things I've done and things I should have done.  And most of all, I am thankful for the forgetting that God has done:  "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." (Hebrews 10:17)

The second part of the article was about a man with an extreme case of short term memory loss.  He can remember things from years ago, but not things from a few minutes ago.  He thinks Lyndon Johnson is the President of the United States, and if he happens to pick up a newspaper and read something to the contrary, he's absolutely stunned ~ for a few minutes.  Then he forgets what he has just learned, and his world goes back to "normal".

Now, if forgetting is bliss, then this ought to be the happiest man on earth, right?  Well I don't think so.  Because he's forgetting all the good stuff, too.  Think of your fondest memories:  your wedding day, the birth of your children... I vividly remember the day I met the Apple of my Eye, even though we were both in high school at the time, and it was 20+ years ago.

I also remember kindness towards me.  I remember words of love and encouragement.  I remember times of laughter, and even tears, that are precious memories.  I also can appreciate who I am, because I remember who I used to be.  And that makes me all the more grateful for what He's done for me ~ "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)

There are things I wish I could forget, and things I wish I could remember, but I'm also so thankful I haven't forgotten everything I remember, and that I don't remember everything I've forgotten!

~ "I will remember the works of the Lord;

Surely I will remember Your wonders of old" ~

Psalm 77:11