Memory's Gift of Wisdom (09/29/2026)

A couple weekends ago, I had our whole family for birthday celebrations, and I was responsible for making several dishes to share. As I prepped the tossed salad, I chose my special large bowl with family memories, memories almost everyone would recall.  I made it while on family vacation to Door County. It was intentionally made as a utilitarian memory, a symbol greater than its current purpose, one that would remind me of my time with family every time I used it.

My life and my home are full of such symbols. It’s not that I wouldn’t remember without them; it’s more that their presence spurs me to remember more frequently and more vividly. There’s the spoon rest on my stove from a member of the bible study group, and every time I use it, I think of the faith shared by my friend and how her presence has added to my journey. There’s also a silver prayer plaque that stands on my kitchen island, also a gift from a bible study friend. Every time I catch sight of it or touch it, I recall the difference this individual as well as other friends have made along the way.

Then there’s my jewelry, all of which have special meaning because each piece was a gift. Every day, as I put on my Claddagh necklace, I think of the moment my husband gave it to me in 1994. We were on our anniversary trip to Lake Geneva. He bought it for me in the Irish Shop. I told him how much I liked it; he said, “Then you should have it.” I have worn it and only it every single day since then. It reminds me not only of that day but of all the effort over the years my husband has made for me.

On our master bedroom wall, there is a crucifix that we received for our wedding. It carries so many memories, not just of our wedding but also of my life in Christ and Christ’s love for me. Whenever I gaze at that crucifix, I realize I was on His mind as He suffered that day. He gave Himself so we might live; He gave Himself so I might live. You see, I’ve learned over the years that Christ is personal. He saved humanity, and He does this by saving one person at a time. It’s personal.

This same crucifix is the one I looked at that fateful day over 50 years ago when I questioned my father during a painful period in my life about his statement when I was a child that “God takes care of good people.” He asked to look at a crucifix; I looked at this one. Then he told me, “There is no one more good than Christ. Do you see how he is suffering? God does take care of good people, but it doesn’t always look like what you think it should.” It was in that moment, as I contemplated my father’s words and the image of that cross that I felt Christ call me, “Come closer.” And every day, as I gaze at the crucifix, I remember that. “Come closer.”

Are there symbols in your life that draw you deeper into the mysteries of life, into the mysteries of our LORD?

I recall years ago studying the scriptures for my master’s degree. I remember discovering the identity of wisdom – it is memory. Read Proverbs 8. Our memory allows us to grow in our faith as we remember the LORD’s loving power and presence, to go deeper in hope knowing that the LORD keeps promises, and to enlarge our love as we recall all the LORD’s love that has brought us into being and in which we live and move and have our being.

As we go forward as disciples on the way, let us not forget what has come before. Let us use our memories of what has been to stir our hope for what can be. And when we see something that reminds us of how blessed and how loved we are and have been, let us stop for a second and with authentic gratitude remember.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.