The Dangers of Not Remembering

As I began today's blog, I intended to write about the dangers of not remembering. I wrote the blog and through a "technical difficulty" I lost it. I re-wrote it and lost it again. Now I am determined that I will not mess it up this time. It makes me wonder if for some reason it will have real meaning for someone? Even as I wrote I began to see how the thoughts for this post were seasonally appropriate and went along with the events of my day in a way I hadn't realized when I started writing.

May is a month of remembering. Many of us will celebrate Memorial Day in a few weeks. As a child this was one of my favorite holidays. For one thing, it signaled the last week of school and I was usually allowed to wear shorts and go barefoot for the first time of the season! Sometimes we took our first swim for the year that day. I had a great aunt that made a whole day of going to various cemeteries to decorate the graves of relatives every May. My friends in the south have what is called, "decoration." They get together on a given day at the cemetery where their family is buried and often have a picnic in a pavilion on the grounds. Families, churches, and cemeteries may have different dates for the "decoration, " as I understand it.

Today I had an easy sort of day. Having done two cleaning jobs already this week, I decided to take a little easier today. I got a long walk in and then went to do a little church visitation with Clint. Rhiannon met us and she and I went to a cemetery where some of our family is buried (remembering) and on to yet another greenhouse! This particular greenhouse was a bower of flowers. I never saw so many blooms in one place in all my life. It was breathtaking. I found two little pots of pink lavender--I didn't know there was such a thing--and lost no time purchasing them. I promptly planted them when I got home. While out in the English garden, I noticed deer footprints leading up to a plant that had been neatly lopped off. I guess I'll have to get out my recipe for deer repellent. The problem is that I don't know if the plant was a perennial or a weed. I can't remember from year to year until the plants get bigger. I have to leave alot of weeds grow to a considerable size until I know what they are! I am sure this works the other way too; I probably have pulled up many plants because I couldn't remember if they were flowers or weeds.

If you've been following my blog for long you know I plant lots of flowers. The problem is that I can't remember from year to year what I planted and where I planted it. Most of the empty dirt space in the English garden has either had seeds or transplanted splits put in it in the fall. Whether or not they are going to pop up is the question. Sometimes I get over-eager and re-plant the same areas because I CAN'T REMEMBER what's been done before.

There is danger in not remembering. Tonight we finished up a series of lessons at church that took us over 6 months to do. Clint did a re-cap so we'd not FORGET. One of the questions that he asked was, "Is it important to know history?" Being a big history fan, I piped up a hearty, "Yes!" Then he asked, "Why?" JT answered with, "Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it." I know that's a quote from a famous person, the trouble is, I can't remember who said it! Perfect example!

I added to the discussion by pointing out that I feel we are at a dangerous time in the history of our country. I had recently heard a statistic that claims we are losing our WW2 veterans in the United States at a rate of about 1000 each day. Once this generation passes off the scene we will not have the firsthand record of what it was like to live with Hitler's tyranny threatening the world. These people were the ones who fought to free Europe from the atrocities of this regime and to stave it off from reaching our shores. They remember the sacrifice. Will we remember once they are not here to remind us? No generation since them has seen anything on the scale of WW2 even though there are several wonderful veterans who served in various conflicts and wars since then to whom we owe a great deal of respect and gratitude. But what happens when a people forget?

God told Joshua to set up twelve memorial stones in the middle of the Jordan River. This was to commemorate the might power of God as He parted the waters for them to pass through. The stones would serve as a reminder when their children asked why they were there. God knew people have a tendency to forget. You can read about this in the fourth chapter of the book of Joshua.

Another little quoted but mighty verse, is Exodus 1:8, "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph." It was that simple. Someone came to power who did not remember the history of the nation and the contribution of a man named Joseph whose wisdom, relationship with God, and foresight saved the country from certain destruction. Soon the descendants of Joseph were in bondage to this new king in a land that their patriarch once co-ruled!

So what's the lesson in all of this? Teach your children well. Teach them history. Teach them your values. Teach them the faith. Jude 3 states, "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." There is danger in not remembering. Blessings, LORI