Remembering

I have been told many times that I remember things very well. I suppose this is true, but it’s hard to tell when that’s just the way I am. Doesn’t everyone remember things from when they were two years old?

Of course, some things are easy to remember. For instance, if you ever broke your arm, I suppose you would remember that. But I wouldn’t know because I never have. I would say most people remember their first car. Or their first day at school. Or their graduation from high school and/or college. Of course, maybe not.

Other things that are remembered live in infamy. Our grandparents can remember where they were on December 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor Day. Our parents remember where they were on November 22, 1963: the day JFK was shot. We all remember where we were on 9/11. But do you remember where you were today 25 years ago?

For that matter, do you remember what today was 25 years ago? It was the day the Challenger spaceship exploded upon take off, killing all aboard including school teacher Sally Ride (from New Hampshire). I was in Kindergarten, happily learning my alphabet or running faster than the boys on the playground. I don’t exactly remember what I was doing the moment the Challenger exploded, but I do remember watching it on television later that day…and the days that followed.

For me, it was the first catastrophic event in my time. At least, that I was old enough to comprehend. (Mt. St. Helens erupted not a month after I was born, but for some reason I can’t remember that…) The new elementary school that was built over the next two years had photos of the crew and the Challenger in the lobby. I remember walking past them and looking at them often. At the time, I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up so Sally Ride was an interesting person. But I never wanted to fly into space. Not after watching the Challenger explode.

It is good to remember the things that have passed. It is by those things that we learn and grow. Often, God recounted to His people the great wonders and signs He had given them in the wilderness. The Old Testament prophets used the history of Israel in their prophecies while the epistle writers of the New Testament continually point back to the death and resurrection of our Savior. As they say, if we do not learn from our past, we are doomed to repeat it. So as you remember where you were 25 years ago, think upon all the Lord has done for you since that day. And rejoice that He works every day in your life – writing a story way beyond anything you could ever imagine!