MetroMonk

O God, in the course of this busy life, give us times of refreshment and peace; and grant that we may so use our leisure to rebuild our bodies and renew our minds, that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. - Prayer for the Good Use of Leisure, page 825, The Book of Common Prayer

Before the Israelites are about to enter into a new land, the Lord (via Moses), is retelling the Israelites their story/journey once again (I'm not sure how many times it is by now that this has happened), but the point is for these people to remember their story, remember their mission-objective, remember grace, remember the Lord's favor to them, just remember so they'll live the right way and not the wrong way by forgetting. * A Note : From Dt. 10:12-12:32, the Lord reminds them bluntly 10x to "be careful to (remember) do all the Lord has commanded. Dt. 11:18 says, "You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes... v.20 says, "You shall write them on the doorposts of house and on your gates. v.22, "For if you will be careful to do all this commandment.....Loving the Lord, walking in his ways and holding fast ...

I would love one million dollars. Wouldn't you? How about 2 million or a fraction of the lottery pot? What would you get if you had one million dollars today? How would life for you be different? I'll never make a lot of money, but for some reason I always want a lot of money.  This got me thinking about why and what would be different. I wouldn't have to worry about college costs or footing the bill for the wedding when my daughter gets married. I could fix repairs around house without it being a strain on my bank account. We could go out to dinner lots and be generous tippers (and sort spread the wealth around). I could tithe more to my church without strain or budget concern. With lots of money we could just shop for things when we wanted to or needed to. I wouldn't want to get the nicest brand or anything like that, but I would want to stay practical and refrain from being frivolous. If I had lots more money I wouldn't have to worry about overdraft fees or...

"Take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of ( Fill in the blank )....." Dt. 6:12  [Like verses also found Dt. 4:9, 23 and 31) What is your story? How has the Lord been gracious towards you? What mercies and goodness have you experienced? What stories of blessings or miracles do you have to share? It seems to me that remembering the journey and story of our faith is what keeps us going. Remembering the love of the Lord towards us keeps us center. Remembering matters greatly. Knowing why we do what we do or why we believe what we believe comes back to memory or remembering (or even re-memorying). It comes back to remembering how God spoke to us, remembering his touch in our lives, remembering the stories of our forefathers, remembering the goodness, remembering Christ's love for us, remembering that our sins have been washed away, remembering our hope, remembering life ever-lasting in the new kingdom of the Lord. May we, who have such fickle minds, ...

Lately I keep thinking how important Remembering and Memory are. To the person of faith they are everything. Every Sunday my fellow believers and I celebrate Eucharist and remember again what the lord Jesus did for us. We come together to remember and in turn we celebrate. Every Sunday my fellow believers and I recite the same communion prayer:  On the night before he died for us, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this is remembrance of me." After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, "Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me." Therefore, according to his command, O Father, [Celebrant and People recite together] We rememb...