Memory

How long do we hold memories?  Do they last a life-time?  Do we remember some things beyond the sound of the words being uttered?  Are we permanently caught in cycles of rhetoric, debate, and no serious actions?  Will today mean anything for tomorrow?
 
The election in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland is finally over.  Nobody involved got exactly what they wanted.  Everyone has at least one result that gives them hope for the future.  Yet even in the shadow of the victory speeches and celebrations the serious questions, problems, and conundrums discussed and debated during the past few weeks seems to have been forgotten.  Today’s conversations are completely focused on the process of election and how the voter responded.  I wonder about the actions that should begin today!  Are we merely stuck in yesterday’s cycle of words within meaning, voices which press on even though nobody seems to be listening, and cries for help which quietly die in the echo of the political chamber?
 
I am dying to hear someone talk about their plans to address injustice.  I thirst for the day someone presents a new idea for empowering the weak.  I long for a sense of true accountability.  The political parties gave us a choice.  We have now made it.  I thought this meant they would remember their promises.  I assumed they were serious.  I hoped it would make a difference.
 
Time will tell but even then the questions don’t end with the elected.  You and I have been selected to make a difference in the world in which we live.  Divinity gave us this appointment, hopeful and confident of action.  We would do well to “remember the root command: Love one another.”  (John 15.16)  Our mission is there for us to take.  Everything has been set in motion and yet we stand idly by, talking about anything but what we will do next.  It is as if we have forgotten.
 
Today is a new chapter.  New goalposts are in place.  Expectations are high.  Everything is to play for.  We can make the difference.