Several times per week, I receive a notice on my phone of a photo ‘memory for you.’ Do you get those, too? Sometimes the notice even provides multiple memories or photos of the same person (or pet, etc.). To be fair, most of the photos ‘selected’ for me are indeed actual memories whether they be of people, animals, or scenes, and I do enjoy seeing them again. The program also encourages me to ‘revisit the moment.’ However, this high-tech memory feature, though impressive, doesn’t always get it right.
A memory chosen for me once was a photo I took of the shower head I considered for purchase. Another was a photo of a financial planner’s business card. And another was a photo of a water filter, so I don’t forget which model and size to order when it’s time for a replacement. Though these selections make me laugh when they are highlighted as special memories, they remind me how important—how necessary—human involvement is when it comes to ‘revisiting the moments.’ The human heart and human experience crave these special moments that fill us. Obviously, we take photos of people, places, and events so we can remember. By documenting and saving them to a device (or to the photo albums of not too long ago), our human hearts can be renewed by these moments any time.
As we do revisit these special moments, if we don’t already, let’s consider taking them one step further and find where God is in these memories with us. Can you see the beauty of His creation in a breathtaking sunset? Did you feel His presence when family and friends gathered for a 90th birthday party? When together with long-time friends for lunch, did you also celebrate God’s everlasting and present companionship? Let us welcome Him into our experiences as we make new memories, so that these memories are rich in blessings and full of His grace.
And when we are faced with difficult memories, which are sure to come, let us then—especially then—seek and welcome God into our hearts and into our experiences, which is where He wants to be. Though we may not actually see the Lord in the photos of our precious memories, when we look closely and revisit them with open hearts, we feel His love, see His gifts, and know His constant presence.
Journeying to Grace 