|
Some years ago when we were leaving Virginia to come to Ball Camp, one of the Sunday School classes at Holland Baptist Church had invited Patti and me to a farewell dinner. The evening was filled with emotion that was only heightened by the presentation of one of the gifts they gave to us that evening. They gave us a scrapbook.
One of the women in the church, Debbie Bunch, was involved with scrapbooking parties. She had given the pages to many of the families in the church, and they in turn had made their pages and given them back to Debbie. She put the book together so that when we opened it, we were instantly reminded, with creatively arranged words and pictures, of why God had led us to them in the first place.
Beyond the content, the pictures and words from people we loved, the scrapbook itself was really something special. I had never seen one that was quite so extravagant. Different colors and weights of paper cut into eye-catching shapes made it evident that this was a different kind of scrapbook.
Molly Marsh, in this month’s Sojourner’s magazine, makes the connection between scrapbooking and Joshua and the Israelites as they were drawing near to the end of their journey to the promised land. Both have to do with remembering. On the day that Israel crossed the Jordan River, the priest bearing the Ark of the Covenant led the way. When they reached the edge of the river, the water on the upstream side stood still. Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.
Don’t you wish someone could have pulled out a camera and taken some pictures. Better yet, how nice it would have been if someone would have videotaped the whole grand parade. Obviously, that did not happen. They did the next best thing.
Twelve men, one from each tribe, each took a stone from the middle of the river. Joshua placed the stones at Gilgal saying, “When your children ask their parents in time to come ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you…” (Joshua 4:21-23)
Remembering is a powerful act. To remember the specific ways in which God has intervened in our lives is even more powerful and profound. Such memories not only strengthen us for the facing of current challenges, but they also remind us that we are part of something larger than ourselves.
Our memories are uniquely our own. No one else has our memories or our particular experience. To be certain, there are similarities and therein lies the exceptionally potent power of remembering together.
Each of us can hopefully point to a time when God’s presence made a difference in our lives; a time when God gave us strength to face a challenge or wisdom to negotiate an obstacle. When we share our collective memories we give strength and encouragement to one another. When we remember together our common experiences we touch again the reality that the God who was before our journey ever began, and who waits for us at its end, walks with us even now.
Scrapbooks, monuments, and markers are an important way of remembering where we have been. They take an extra measure of importance for us as we seek to follow Christ together. Our God is amazing in so many ways, not the least of which is the way God relentlessly pursues an intimate, loving relationship with each one of us. That is worth remembering and sharing.
Joy and Peace,
Ed
|
