Memories

There was a funeral at our church on Monday. After 3 years of suffering with brain cancer, the 71-year-old church member and friend finally let go and peacefully left this earth. It will probably be the last funeral Dave will perform for a long time. I was glad that I was able to be there - that we were able to say "goodbye" before we left.

Another pastor, a friend of the grieving family, also spoke during the funeral service. He mentioned that during life, we create many different memories. And that what kind of happens is that we "store" all of these memories in a covered cabinet. And every so often, we visit that cabinet, take out one of those memories, brush it off, and look it over. Then we put it back, and close the cover until the next time we visit this cabinet. But when someone dies, it is like the cover is thrown open, and all of those memories come rushing out, all at once. I liked that illustration. What a wonderful way to paint the picture, the mental image, of how we interact with our memories during our life.

There are now only a few days left until we move. We are living in the middle of boxes and organized chaos. I find that during this time, all of the memories from the past almost-four years are rushing back. The cover to the cabinet of our memories from the time spent in this town and at this church has been thrown open. So many things are going through my mind. So many reminders of things that happened. But, just as all of our things are being packed, these memories will be packed up too. And they'll move with us to the next place. We'll bring them with us through all of the places we'll live. And, every so often, take one out, brush it off, examine it, and place it back on the shelf.