How’s your memory?
As I get older I seem to forget more and more; people’s names, where I leave things, why I came into this room, to return phone calls and many other important, semi-important and totally unimportant things. My wife accuses me of suffering from a form of dementia she calls “Partzheimer’s.” Her point is I seem to remember what is important to me and forget what I choose to forget. That, you must remember, is her point of view.
I saw a story about a woman who lives in suburban Los Angeles. She is an administrator of a religious school and she can remember vividly every day of her life since she was 14 years old. She is able to remember many details of her life prior to age 14; however she has total recall of every event in her life since that time. She has been examined by many different experts including a group of neuroscientists. They used diaries she had from age 10 to 34. They examined her on 1,460 randomly selected days from her diaries. The article said that within seconds she could give them specific events, the order they occurred and any other details the examiner asked.
The article went on to say, “But that wasn’t all. You could give her a date, and within seconds she’d tell you what day of the week it was; not only what she did but other key events of the day,” the examiner said. Aug. 16, 1977? A Tuesday, Elvis died. May 18, 1980? A Sunday, Mount St. Helens erupted. She also quickly could come up with the day and date of noted events: the start of the Gulf War, Rodney King’s beating, Princess Diana’s death (Aug. 30 or 31, 1997, depending on France or U.S. time, she told the examiner).
I have several thoughts about this article. Some things we need to remember; some we need to forget, some we wish we could forget and many things we wish we could remember. But this lady has absolutely no choice. She remembers everything. It seems to me her picture could be placed in the dictionary next to the word “dichotomy” or “dilemma.”
I thought of the truth expressed in Isaiah 38:17, “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.” God never forgets anything yet for us He puts our sins behind His back. They are literally out of His sight. We all know the saying, “out of sight; out of mind.” I am so glad my sins are out of God’s mind because of what His Son did for me on the cross.
The other thought I had connected with this story relates to Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable– if anything is excellent or praiseworthy– think about such things.” The apostle Paul tells his readers they need to develop a selective thought pattern. If we dwell on the negative in our past and in our lives, we become negative. If we dwell on the positive, we will become positive. I know far too many people who focus on everything they do not have and never consider what they do have.
So, how is your memory?
Are there things in your past you dwell upon and brood over?
Are you consumed by the things you do not have?
Do you make it a daily practice to thank God for both the small and the large things that are part of your life each day?
Take time this weekend to make a list of the things and people you take for granted each day and thank God for them.
Be sure to consider the lifestyle you have been given which people in other parts of the world have never experienced.
Diggin with Doc 