As belated updates sink in with friends, there is an echoing response; “your Christmas came early this year!” As traumatic as brain surgery is, once through it, our souls push everything out of our mind’s reach. It is too overwhelming! It is far too traumatic. No matter what the outcome, it could have been much worse. In my case, I was fortunate. So far, there is no material bad news and lots of good news. Christmas did come early this year, courtesy of a great surgery team and God’s touch.
We, you and me, easily forget. No matter how traumatic, we find ourselves living with fading memories in the illusive present. Even when we think we are, it seems as if the virtual yesterday or tomorrow is demanding our attention. I find myself disciplining my heart and soul for what was done as well as what I did not do. The pain inflicted does not clarify my learning or help me understand the present.
The reminders of Christmas gifts this year are, for me, profoundly important. I have tangible evidence of God touching my life! I can touch the scars. The feelings that come reach deep inside my head. I know God was tangibly engaged in a pivotal moment of my life. As I remember, it makes a difference.
I would gently remind you that God has been involved in your life. In the words and actions of those closest to you, you know love and acceptance. In the opportunities that you have, you know hope. In the peace that has come into your life, you know that you are part of a community that is bigger than your life.
We are not the first to remember. Sometimes it takes a story. In one case, “hearing it all laid out like that, they quieted down. And then, as it sank in, they started praising God. ‘It's really happened! God has broken through to the other nations, opened them up to Life!’” (Acts 11.18)
I suggest we do more than not forget; today, let us remember.
