Spiritual Hiccups - Remembering

I have discovered over the years that one of the great spiritual difficulties for me is remembering.  By that I mean that moments which were formative, that spurred me to make some change in my life or convinced me that God wanted me to take a particular path, become fuzzy, without the power they once had. 

I presume such many others have had similar experiences.  Remembering, at least meaningful remembering, can be a difficult thing.  Over time, couples often forget the feelings they once had for each other.  Current irritations are more vivid.  Sometimes they drown out those old moments to the point that people doubt old feelings of love, dismissing them as youthful infatuations. 

When relationships run out of steam, the present overwhelms the past.  All relationships deal with this at times, and remembering is essential.  Remembering old promises, remembering old commitments, remembering formative moments in the life of a relationship is necessary for it to grow and continue. 

Today's reading from Deuteronomy realizes this need for remembering.  Even the powerful experiences of God in the wilderness will lose potency in the face of the present if people do not work to remember.  "But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children's children."

When I was growing up in the Church, I was taught some of the history of God's people.  I was drawn into this remembering.  But too often, it seemed an academic exercise.  Faith was about knowing the material and agreeing with it.  But faith is about relationship, right relationship with God.  And relationship is not about knowing the correct facts and agreeing with certain doctrines.  But it is about remembering.

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