A Devotion Between Memory and Hope

“No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time” – Virgil

You can find these words in the center of Spencer Finch’s mosaic at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The words are surrounded by 2,983 watercolor squares, each representing a victim of the 2001 or 1993 terrorist attacks. It contains the remains of the 1,113 victims who have yet to be identified. The words themselves are forged from piece of steel recovered from the World Trade Center.

Today we remember this day, 18 years ago, when four coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States killed 2996 people and injured over 6000 others.

This week we also commemorate the 2-year anniversary of Hurricane Irma, a category 5 storm that swept across the Caribbean and the state of Florida, bringing destruction and devastation.

Every year on September 11, I feel the emotional disbelief and fear that I experienced that morning. We all have our stories of where we were on these fateful days.

On September 11, 2001, I was a high school senior, sitting in my Calculus class as I watched the 2nd plane hit the South tower.

On September 10th – 11th, 2017 I was huddled in my home, windows boarded, and supplies gathered, praying that the howls of wind and rain wouldn’t wake my sleeping, fearful children.

After 9/11, we found ourselves imagining the horrors of that day through the lived experience of the victims, the trauma and pain they endured and the heavy weight of each family’s loss.

In the same way, much of our work in disaster recovery is hearing and collecting the stories of our survivors of Hurricane Irma. We hold them with and for our clients, adding them to the tapestry of tragic memory and persistent hope.

This day we will see and hear the phrase “Never forget.” For me, this reminder is always a double- edged sword; I know we are forgetful people, often absentminded and short-sighted. But when it comes to days, and weeks like this, I ask myself “How could we ever forget?!?”

And then I recall the way that the story of Scripture talks about memory.

In Scripture, memory is not a stagnant, still thing. It is a practice, a physical, intentional pattern of behavior that the people of God participate in to remember who they are and whose they are.

In the book of Deuteronomy we read of Moses’ parting words to the people he’s led for many years. His constant refrain is: REMEMBER!

“Do not forget. Teach your children not to forget. In fact, write it on the doorframes and posts of your house so that you won’t forget. Remember what God has done for you, what God has given you. Remember your story.” (my very rudimentary translation).

Moses leaves his people with practical, regular ways of remembering their story: observing the Sabbath, confession, tithe, act with compassion and justice, just to name a few.

As people who live and follow Jesus, we have the same admonition, the same command to remember. Our profound act of remembrance comes in the practice of Communion. When we feast at the Lord’s Supper, we don’t just remember with our minds the mighty acts of Jesus, we participate with our bodies. We take and eat the bread, Christ’s body, take and drink the wine, Christ’s blood. In these actions, we remember what Jesus has done for us, and who we are to Him.

That’s what faithful remembering looks like. Actively, sincerely, intentionally reflecting on God, recalling, and relishing God’s story and our role in it. Giving thanks to God for His mercy and His grace.

Remembering is deliberate attention. Remembering is an act of hope turned towards God.

Our lives today find ourselves at the intersection of memory and hope.

We remember the loss, the tragedy and the pain. We hold it and grieve and weep over it. And so does God.

And we hope. In our practices of memory, seeds of hope burst forth. We remember God’s presence with us, how He carried us through valleys of sorrow, and leads us into places of joy.

Indeed, no day, no week, no year or lifetime can or will erase any of us from the memory of time, nor from the memory of God and God’s people.

Together, we remember to remember, remember to hope against all odds, to place our hope in the One that redeems all things.

We pray:

God, our help in ages past, our hope, even when the waters are rising;

You parted the waters of the Red Sea and bid your people to walk on dry land. Do it again God!

Your hand of protection sustained the hands of those who reached out to save others, Do it again God! 

Those who sought to restore the ruined places, Do it again God!

Those committed to reestablish the devastated lands, Do it again God!

Those who seek to rehabilitate ravaged homes and demolished streets, Do it again God!

We pray this prayer in Your name, for you are the One who is able to keep us from falling, the One who strengthens the hands of compassion, grace and love. 

Help us never forget to remember how these hands got us through the rising waters.

Amen.

(Adapted from UMC Discipleship)

With you on the journey,

Chaplain Amy