How Much Do You Remember?
Dear Friends,
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I was stumped. My eyes rolled back and my jaw dropped when I read the security question on my credit card account. Usually, they ask you for your mother's maiden name or make you decide which of your cats, dogs, rabbits or ferrets was your favorite pet. That is what I was expecting. That's not what I got.
These questions are not meant to be difficult. They are supposed to be helpful. They are like the little white boards in people's rooms in Convalescent Homes. They list the day of the week and give a weather report and sometimes contain a note on what they are serving for lunch. The white boards are tools to help orient those who suffer from slight memory loss.
Forget memory loss, I felt like a contestant on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" I saw the security question and I needed a lifeline. The prompter wanted to know the name of my high school mascot. I blanked. I went to school long before they had people running around in costumes. All I could think of was the cute cheerleaders.
I went to hundreds of basketball games but I blanked on the name of the mascot. It was so bad that I had to get up from the computer and walk away. After all, I've been out of high school for almost 50 years. I haven't been back in years. I kept thinking Bacon, but all that came to me was… and eggs. No mascot.
I felt bad. I loved high school. I had a lot of school spirit. I was active in everything. But that was then and this is now. Time had erased some of those precious memories simply because it wasn't part of my world today. The things I used to know were buried deep in a storage cabinet in the back of my brain.
It struck me that the same thing is true of our knowledge of Scriptures. Many of us learned all the Bible stories as children. We learned about David and Goliath, Adam and Eve, Jonah and the Whale and so much more. But over time, many of us have forgotten much of the substance of those stories.
The fact that you went every week as a child does not ensure that you will remember everything you read. Time has a way of erasing the memories we do not use regularly. We need to take advantage of the educational opportunities at our churches. Join a Bible study or small group. It will not only bless you as you grow in God's word, but you will feel like a kid again and be able to impress your friends with how much you remember from the Bible.
By the way, our mascot at Bacon Academy in Colchester was a Bobcat. It took me a while… but I got it. It will be the same for you once you sign up for a study at your house of worship. There is no better way to keep the recently celebrated resurrection alive than to dig into the Word of God and get reacquainted with God’s truth.
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God bless! See you in church!
Pastor Cal