Reminiscing

Scents, aromas and pictures (still or moving) can influence our memory and make it as vivid and as real as it can ever be.  I was sitting at home one evening and a sudden gust of melancholy overtook me.  My parents and my experiences with them came flooding back in my mind.  I thought of the days when they first met and how they wanted to share a life together.  I thought of all the vacations we took together and of the conversations we had when they were older.  I also thought of the end times when they were most vulnerable and I remember their strength, their faith and their smiles.

It is amazing to me that something as simple as a reminder can stir us to tears or to laughter.  The environment permeates with the pulse of our spirit.  It is as alive as we are present in this world.  It affects us in ways we cannot humanly imagine.

It is not God’s plan for us to dwell on the past and forget to live.  But for me, at least, when these thoughts come to me, I seem to be, for a moment, paralyzed.  Then, as if someone was calling my name, I awaken and am back in the world.  Temporary or not, this kind of memory can influence how we cope with good times and with the trials He places before us in our everyday lives.  It molds us, shapes us and moves us to compassionate impulses. 

Blessed Pope John Paul II once said, “It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”

For it is our spirit, our parent’s spirit, His spirit that we can use to be better stewards and kinder to our fellow human beings.  By remembering something wonderful, we are stirred to positive action and by remembering a tragedy; we are guided to wisdom and learn how to manage our emotions.

Perhaps, by just listening when things are at their calmest, we can hear Him speaking to us.  He is leading us to a life of prayer, a more content life, a more fulfilled life, a more spiritual life and a life worth remembering.

For our loved ones who are deceased, for all the soldiers protecting us, for all those needing His help, we will think of them fondly, saying a prayer and recalling those wonderful memories that were shared.  An excerpt from a song the Little River Band wrote over three decades ago sums up what I keep in my mind:

Well that's the way it began, we were hand-in-hand Glen Miller's band was better than before

We yelled and screamed for more

And those Porter's tunes made us dance across the room

It ended all too soon

On the way back home I promised you'd never be alone
Hurry, don't be late I can't hardly wait I said to myself when we're old

We'll go dancing in the dark, walking through the park and reminiscing…

 Friday night it was late, I was walking you home

We got down to the gate, I was dreaming of the night

Would it turn out right?

Now as the years roll on, each time we hear our favorite song

The memories come along

Older times we're missing, spending the hours reminiscing

Hurry, don't be late, I can't hardly wait

I said to myself when we're old

We'll go dancing in the dark, walking through the park and reminiscing…

May we all have found memories of our loved ones and may their spirit guide us and hold us forever.  May the wind be at our backs and may His peace be with you, always.