Sitting around the supper table this Sunday evening, the conversation turned to cousins, nieces and nephews. I love these family gatherings and the memories they evoke. Tonight we found ourselves discussing the ages of pets and wondering where the time had gone. With the reminder that favourite dogs and cats are beginning to show signs of aging the subject turned to sons and cousins. They can't really be that old! Can they?
"Remember," someone would say and our thoughts spanned the decades. "He's forty-five now," someone remarked and I shook my head. My first born, our son, is far too close to being there as well. Why is it that the whole world moves on without our really comprehending it?
This weekend we remember those who gave themselves so we could indulge memories denied so many others. I may be wrong but I cannot imagine our veterans could ever forget the horrors of conflict. My mind goes often to their family gatherings where soldiers stopped aging far too early in life; gatherings where "remember" is stained with tears. As the years creep by I find myself well aware of the tendency to forget and for that reason alone I'm glad for annual Remembrance Day services.
The Psalmist David constantly wrote reminders: "Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits," was one on his list. Another writer of the psalms, Asaph, put still another slant on things, "Yes, many a time He [as in, God] remembered that they [as in, us] were but flesh".
Looking forward to Nov. 11 I remember with deep gratitude those who paid the price for our freedom; looking back over the past decade I recall, again with gratitude, the gift of family and, above all, looking above, I am so glad that God doesn't forget me.
