Scripture

What are mere mortals that You should think about them, human beings that You should care for them? Yet You made them only a little lower than {Elohim} Yourself and crowned them with glory and honor.

~Psalm 8:4-5, GNT

Quote

We marvel at the grandeur of magnificent things like water falls, mountains, the stars and the planets but we seem to ignore the complexity of man, the crown of creation.

~Ya’akov

Augustine compared our memories to a Mansion with many rooms, some dark and some lighted, some easily accessible and some hidden. This huge Manison is filled with memories. How did the Mansion get so filled with memories? Think of the eye as a camera, the imagination is the filter and the mind is the processor and storage. Once we perceive and image through our senses, the image is stored away. The problem is in our processing, we either enlarge them or diminish them before we store them in our memory. This explains why two humans can be witness to the same event and yet record and report it differently. The Mansion of Memories is colossal; it is huge and there are million of memories stored in the various rooms, nooks and crannies. Some of the memories, we bury intentionally and we hope and pray that no one ever uncovers them. Other pop up at the strangest times only to get lost again in all the clutter. You would be absolutely amazed at all the information stored in your memory.

The question arises: are the memories a blessing or a curse? Someone showed me an old photo the other day. The pic was taken in the fall of 1990. It was a photo of the ground breaking ceremony that we had in November of 90 marking the beginning of construction on the new campus. I had forgotten all about the event. When they showed me the pic, it jogged my memory somewhat but not completely. I have had it happen more than once; someone comes up and thanks me for something I did or said years ago and I have to confess. to them… “I trust your recall but I just don’t remember doing or saying what you just shared with me.” I try hard because I want to remember the good I have done but somehow it alludes me. I was hauling my tractor the other day and about to arrive back home when a horrible memory of something I did many years ago shot across the horizon of my mind. I don’t even remember what trigged the thought. I broke down and began to pray: LORD, why do I remember all the stupid things I have done but cannot remember the decent? I had just composed a blog on competition and the thought crossed my mind: if there was a contest for stupidity, I might win that contest. The tormenting fact is that these things pop into my mind without warning: late at night, early in the morning or during the day. Hey, I never know when a MEMORY of my stupidity and sin will pop up.

I am going to be honest with you: I am being vaguely honest. I am not about to list the stupid things I have done. First of all, I came remember them all at once; plus there are some things on my list that I hope only God knows and I am not about to share them with you or anyone else. My faith is in Jesus and I believe my sins are forgiven but I cannot shake the memories. So my question is: why doesn’t God erase the memory the same way He blots out the sin? Would Paul have been able to write the book of Romans had God erased his memory of him being a Christ-hating persecutor of the church? A big part of Paul becoming the humble servant of God was that he remembered what he was before his conversion. I will put it this way: a man who has done as many stupid things as I have done, does not need or have the right, to look down on anyone. God has His reasons for not erasing our memories and one of them is to keep us from being condescending jerks.

Extra

Holly got me an appointment with an Allergy Doctor and I went yesterday even but all they did was asks me questions and of course, I have no clue what the problem is. I went to them to get answers and all I got was questions. June gave me a pep talk on the way home. She always takes their side. Any who, I will be tested on August 10, LORD Willing.

Enough about ole Jack: what about ole Gregg. I think from what I heard yesterday that things are going well. If you want to send him a GET WELL CARD…here is the address…

UAMS 4301 West Markham Street, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72205,  Attention: Gregg Holiday Room F716.

Have a great weekend!