Remember

So, beginning last night, Israel has been observing the Holocaust Memorial Day. Amongst all the ancient things we have learned here, we have also been affected by the modern history of this people.

A couple of weeks ago, we took both boys (children under 10 not permitted) to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum here in Jerusalem. It was an incredibly sobering day. The museum itself is astounding. The rooms are dedicated to vividly recalling all the events of this horrific tragedy. There are two especially memorable sections – The Hall of Names and The Children’s Memorial. The Hall of Names is a circular room that is about 30 feet tall with the center cut out. All around the edges, from floor to ceiling, are shelves filled with black binders. Within these binders are filed (in alphabetical order) the names, photographs and any other information that can be found regarding the victims that did not survive the genocide. To stand in the room and to look all around is to be smacked with the vast number of people whose names the Nazis tried to erase from the memory of the face of the Earth. The second section I will never forget is the Children’s Memorial. This memorial is cut into the side of bedrock so to enter it is to enter a cave. Once inside, it is pitch black. There are hundreds of thousands of tiny flickering lights as far as your eye can peer in all directions. As you stand in this ominous setting, the names of the children slaughtered in the conflict are read…one after another…their name and then their age…then another one…then another. This place – this day – etched in the city of Jerusalem to cause a whole people group to remember. to mourn. to never forget. to count the cost.

And then today…I was doing my laundry and spontaneously there was a sound of many bullhorns and sirens. Of course my first thought is that there was a nuclear bomb coming and we were all going to see Jesus. Upon the absence of that happening, I went outside to investigate. The sight that greeted me was very moving and strangely eerie. In the busy street outside our apartment, everyone was frozen in position as if time was standing still. Cab drivers were standing next to their cars, pedestrians were stopped in the middle of the street, our security guard was standing next to his post, shop owners were in their doorways…everyone had their head bowed…perplexing. Then it hit me, they are remembering…remembering the holocaust. The sirens seemed to go on forever and then they stopped as quickly as they had started and everyone sprang back to life and continued about their day.

Last Sunday, our pastor from the Christ Church here in Jerusalem, spoke about remembering. He taught us that remembering is not just thinking about a past event but it is bringing the past into our present to change it. He, of course, was speaking of the death and resurrection of our Lord. He recounted how God is constantly asking us to remember…remember when I led you out…do this in remembrance of me. He spoke of the power of remembering, how it gives us courage and how it increases our faith so that we can live for Him today with the power of the Resurrection in our lives. It moved me.

The dedication I have seen in this country to collectively remember has spurred me on in my own life and reminded me of how His love and presence in my life needs to lead me to act on behalf of the afflicted, the rejected and the needy. I realized that I do not take the time to remember enough. Thus, for the past two weeks, I have been making an effort to remember…all He has done for me…

how He has led me, at times carried me on Eagle’s wings,
how He has wooed me,
how He has loved me,
how He has forgiven me,
how He has blessed me,
how He has afflicted me,
how He has provided for me.

This year, I will turn 40 and already, I have much to remember.

My prayer is that I will bring these memories from the past into my presence and that I will be more faithful and more full of Him than ever to a broken, needy and watching world.

Help me, Lord.

Cate and I on our way to Christ Church – Easter morning

Gabe mastering the Egg/Spoon race at the college!

And now Bennett’s turn at the famous Egg Toss at the college!

Cate waiting for her turn in the race…

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