How is Your Memory?

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

– Psalm 103:2

There are so many things we forget. Birthdays. Appointments. Passwords. Names. Where we parked the car. And plenty of other things we’ve already forgotten!

But we also forget the deeper things – the ones that ground us and hold us together when life feels like it’s coming apart.

We forget how God showed up when we weren’t sure we’d make it. Been there.

We forget the prayers we whispered in the dark – answered in quiet ways we barely recognized. Maybe the answers looked different than we expected, but it was saving grace all the same.

And when we forget, doubt creeps in. Not because God has changed, but because we lose our memory of what God has already done for us.

Years ago, Joan Chittister – who once spoke at our Faith Forum (https://christchurchcharlotte.subspla.sh/xt3377s) – wrote a book called Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope. She reminds us:

“Hope lies in the memory of God’s previous goodness to us in a world that is both bountiful and harsh.”

Hope doesn’t grow from pretending life is easy. Hope grows from remembering who God is, especially when the road is long.

When doubt knocks, don’t just try to out-argue it. Come to church. Worship. Gather at the table.

In the Eucharist, we remember what we so easily forget –

that Christ’s love has already made a way for us,

that His grace is still enough,

that we are part of a story bigger and more beautiful than our doubts.

Keep coming. Don’t stop – don’t let yourself forget, and don’t forget what you’ve already remembered.

Kneel beside others who are also remembering, also hoping, also carrying their own heartbreaks.

Listen to the story in the Scriptures again – the story of grace, the testament of overcoming, the story of God’s love that refused then, and still refuses now, to let you go.

We belong to a community that, in the words of Henri Nouwen, exists to be a “living reminder” – a people who carry the memory of God’s faithfulness for one another when life gets too heavy to carry alone.

You are not alone.

You never have been.

You never will be.

You belong to us.

And we belong to each other – standing together through every season of life.

And even if you forget, we will remind you what you forgot to remember.