James writes…
On memory & identity
Jesus said to them, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22.19)
Memory is a powerful tool and profoundfaculty, which can be directed in positive or negative ways. Depending on our life experience, we may be people paralysed by fear or nostalgia, or liberated by awareness of memories being healed or cherished, opening up a new future. Sometime we find ourselves mysteriously moving from negative to positive experiences of memory. In all of this a key need is recognising the value of memory, as well as the active involvement of the Holy Spirit, such that our relationship with memory is not static or closed, but dynamic and open. This is especially true if we work with our memories, in prayer and meditation on scripture, as well as sharing our stories with trusted others.
Jesus himself set a pattern for this, when he said at the Last Supper, despite acute suffering, “Do this in remembrance of me”. In other words, Jesus says, do these things (share bread and wine) to remember me and my presence with you. Living in the light of this, therefore, means that every time we remember God to bework, we discover new life – even in the midst of pain - as the disparate parts of our lives are ‘re-membered’ orput back together as One.Coming to Communion and living eucharistically, opens us up the transforming power of memory.Where there is faith, even in harsh circumstances, there can be healing, hope and true joy. For God is at work, to renew, heal, transform and bless, as our lives find new identity in Him. Why memory? Because it links us to the story of Jesus, and the deep knowledge that we all come from God and will return to God. As St Augustine says, memory saves us, because at our deepest centre we discover the presence of God, who made us and calls us home: “our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.” (Confessions)
November is one such season of remembering, as the clocks change and we enter the twilight of autumn. For spanning such festivals as All Saints, All Souls and Remembrance Sunday, we take time to attend to memory in a life-giving way. For here we remember the lives of the saints, and our relationship to them within a great cloud of witnesses, worshipping God in heaven and on earth. For here we remember, with joy and sadness, our own loved ones who have died, trusting in the compassion and mercy of God, whose love never fails. And here, in uncertain times, we plumb the depths of memory (individually and corporately) as we pay tribute to those who have died in war and conflict, praying that God will ‘beatswords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks… neither shall [we] learn war anymore’ (Isaiah 2.4)
As I write my family is preparing to remember my own father, William, whose 90th Birthday falls at this time. Sadly he died 21 years ago, at the age of 68, after a lifetime of public service. However, despite our grief, over time memory has taken on a life-giving quality, as we are made aware of all life’s blessings, and see God at work forging a new future, as we “Do this in remembrance” of him.
As we enter, this month, a year of prayer at St John’s, ‘Deeper into God’, my prayer is that each of us may take time in quiet prayer, in sharing our stories and in prayerfully reading the Bible, to remember who we are and where we come from, that we might each discover our true identity, find healing, and discern new pathways in following Jesus Christ.‘Do not remember the former things… I am about to do a new thing.’ (Isaiah 43.18)
Note: The above illustration is a representation of the Emmaus Road story in Luke 24.13-35, another powerful story about memory & identity.