I visit twice a week with a frail, elderly, declining widow who still lives in her own place alone. From what I observe, her days are all becoming a bland repeat of one another. Same routine, same entertainment, same preferred food, same conversations, same tiny handful of needs…… each morning she has a cup of coffee and 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter. She puts her hearing aid in and checks off another day on the calendar on the kitchen counter. But on our outings to the grocery store or drives along the beach, I hear an occasional new remembrance of some long ago event. And I hang on the words as she reveals more of what has made her who she is. This week I asked her when a particular event in her life happened. She thought a minute and said, “I don’t keep up with what happened when. It’s all in the past. I just live in today, one day at the time.” I recognized the wisdom in that statement. By allowing memories to be freed from the bonds of chronology they become part of what we carry into eternity with us, precious memories of sweet moments with a loved one, snapshots of time lived that God processes into permanent reminders that we have known and been known, loved and been loved, admonished and been admonished, celebrated and been celebrated, served and been served. We have lived abundantly and shall continue to do so when we are freed from the physical bonds that hold us here.
