Memory Lane

Memory Lane

Scripture: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  Matthew 25: 37-40

Over time I have noticed that a change of season usually brings a flood of memories.  I am not sure why that happens for me, but I bet it does for a lot of people.  The fall smells like Friday night high school football games, makes you crave caramel apples and makes you want to sit by a campfire.  The spring feels like an egg hunt is around the corner, smells like rain is coming and calls to mind the day my first-born child came home from the hospital.  Summer smells like days spent playing outside, sunscreen, and picnic lunches.  You get the idea.

My new job gives me odd down times alone, which I am discovering I haven’t experienced much in my lifetime.  This week I went for a couple of fall walks in the early afternoon.  One on a trail near the Natchez Chase and the other along the road near my hotel.  While walking near a shopping strip mall, I saw a woman guiding an elderly man toward the Veterans Center.  I recognized his gate: short steps, reluctance, confusion.  I could tell he had either Alzheimer’s or Dementia.  Having dealt with these diseases I know that they often need a distraction instead of a focus.

I walked up and acted like I knew the couple and hadn’t seen them in years.  I took the old man by the hand, held open the door and helped him find a seat inside while his female care-giver signed in.  His words were hardly recognizable.  Most of them didn’t really go together.  Occasionally he would ask me where I had been.  He mentioned Maryland.  He told me I looked good.  LOL!  I studied his eyes, his hair, his weathered face.  There was this moment when I wondered about the life he had forgotten, the memories I could recall, but with which he had lost touch.  “O God,” I prayed, “unlock the beauty for him, unlock the beauty for me.”

I was indeed looking into the eyes of the ones Jesus referred to as the least of these; a life jaded by disease and suffering.  How many people there are out there suffering whose lives are overlooked and forgotten?  It is easy to live our “normal” lives and overlook them.  When was the last time I had paused to acknowledge the life of a veteran who may or may not have done something heroic?  Aren’t all lives heroic in some way even if gone unseen?  In that moment I remembered many thankless acts I have failed to acknowledge.  I recalled my own father and his loss of touch with his memories.  I saw my life rush before my eyes and hoped that I didn’t forget this moment. 

I bid my farewells and headed back to my walk.  The funny thing was I think the female caregiver thought she should have known me too.  LOL!  I didn’t try to explain, I simply explained to God that I recognized Him in the eyes of that elderly man.  I saw him in the exhaustion on the face of the lady.  I knew in that moment I spent too much time looking at my problems and not enough time helping others find peace in the midst of their problems.  I didn’t remember God this fall.  God remembered me.

Prayer :  Almighty God, give us eyes to see the subtle ways you speak to us through smells, sounds, songs, and memories.  We know you are speaking, give us ears to hear You.  Amen.

Prayer Starter:  As you go about your normal everyday life: grocery, exercise, errands, ask God to show you the least of these and how you can help.