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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Fleur Dorrell

Good Morning.

Throughout our lives, we are shaped by memories that affect the way we remember the past, engage the present and face the future.

I’m an identical twin and my sister and I can recall quite different aspects of the same events, such as when we were nine having our tonsils out in a London hospital. She remembers the nurses’ uniforms - I remember the toys we played with, but we both felt the same relief when our mother took us home and gave us ice cream.

We walk daily with our memories; receiving them, processing them, retrieving them - they are the stuff of both our hearts and minds. We have memories we'd rather forget and others we cherish. We bury memories we should face but are not yet ready to embrace and hold onto memories which need release. Sometimes we alter memories to hide or change the truth. Tragically, we can, at any time, lose all memory.
Holding memories in balance requires a lifetime's discernment. It helps if we do not carry them alone. Memory is a continuing theme in the Bible. God makes a solemn promise through his friend Noah with all of Creation. The prophets and psalms remind the people across the generations that they are remembered. Jesus tells stories about how God cannot forget the sparrows - so how much more will he remember us?

I pray that we remember all that is true in our lives. May we visit those memories, where gifts are nurtured and wounds are healed. And give thanks for memories to live and love by.

Amen.