“Remember the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. Ask your father and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you.” Deuteronomy 32:7 (NASB)
“Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember,” Mark 8:18 (NASB)
Oxford defines “to remember”as to be able to bring to one’s mind an awareness of someone or something that one has seen, known, or experienced in the past. Each year our country celebrates Memorial Day, a day intended for us to remember those who defended the freedoms of this country to the very end, sacrificing their lives for each of ours. It is a day set aside for remembering.
And yet history shows that we’re not very good at doing that; or at least changing ourselves because of those memories. As Mark wrote in his gospel, “And do you not remember?” I think the problem is that too many of us don’t have any knowledge of things “seen, known or experienced in the past.” That knowledge has been hidden behind years of revisionism and political correctness. How can we remember if we never knew? Martyrs have always loomed as heroes of faith. Those who fought for our lives and lost their own gave of their own to assure life for others. By remembering we keep alive the spirit of those who have sacrificed. And we can only do that if we teach the generations the stories of these heroes. If we cannot remember and celebrate, we are doomed to repeat what caused their martyrdom.
Moses wrote in Deuteronomy, “Ask your father and he will inform you, Your Elders and they will tell you.” We are enjoined by scripture to keep alive the memories – the real, unaltered and unadulterated histories of the past.
Many of us will celebrate Memorial Day with our families. Take this time of celebration to remember wisely and to teach your children and your grandchildren. Give them the eyes to see and ears to hear. And entreat them to teach their children. It’s a gift that they will remember forever.
On our day set aside for remembering, “Remember the days of old.”
