Memories

"And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, 'Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.' After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, 'This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.' For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." (1 Corinthians 11:24-26 KJV)

When I was eighteen, I joined the US Marine Corps. My dad had been in the Corps in WWII and fought in the Guadalcanal campaign at Saipan and Iwo Jima. As a boy, I insisted that I would be a "lifer" in the Marines. But the realities of service life was quite different from my childhood fantasies.

As it happened, I ended up in South Viet Nam and forty-two years later, I still hate the smell of Dial soap. I can't bear to stand in the rain and the mere mention of some things dredges up memories too horrible to relate. Yet, I also have a host of happier memories.

There are the wonderful days going fishing with my paternal grandfather and an uncle. There are the afternoons of playing ball with dad. There are Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with our extended family at my maternal grandparents' home.

There is my first sermon -- scary as it was -- from St. John 3:16. Sincerely spoken from my heart, it was a five minute sermon expressing hope in the eternal life provided through the love of God on Calvary. In addition, every congregation I have served is remembered with the deepest gratitude and affection. I have made some mistakes -- which I try not to remember -- and achieved some successes that I try to keep before me.

But my greatest memory is of an altar where I knelt, as an eleven year old, and repented of my sin. Then there is the altar where I accepted the call to minister. And the altar where I later re-committed myself to Christ, surrendering my life to him in sanctification and being filled with the Holy Spirit. And the place where I knelt as Bishop M. A. Tomlinson laid his hands on my head and said, "Be thou faithful. Be thou a bishop."

There are many, many other memories that could be related -- if I could only remember them -- but they are locked in the memory bank awaiting a moment when some word, event, or smell will trigger them and I'll smile.

Dear Father, thank you for memories that death cannot take away. Empower us today to remember with joy and gratitude. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN

Be strong and courageous today as you remember,