Opinion
Thank God for the memories
Regular contributor Jane Walters has been recalling her youth, and thanks God for His faithful leading during her life.
I recently attended my high school reunion, forty years (yes, forty!) after I left. With heart pounding and nerves jangling, I stepped into not only that once-so-familiar building but into my past. Not knowing if anyone would remember me, I was thrilled to be greeted with, ‘Jane! We’ve been looking for you for years!’
We spent some delightful hours swapping memories and catching up on how life had treated us over the years. After we said our goodbyes, we continued to “chat” in our WhatsApp group, with photos being shared and others joining in who hadn’t been able to attend. I felt buoyed at being part of a new community, but then…
After a couple of days, the misgivings started. I hadn’t always had a happy time at school, and I had unwittingly opened the door for less pleasant memories and feelings to enter. Trips down Memory Lane can be dangerous.
I remember a talk at a literary festival, given by an author who’d written a book on nostalgia. He told the story of a young man who had travelled overseas and, while there, became gravely ill. Doctors were baffled and eventually felt he should return home to die. However, on arrival, he immediately began to recover and was diagnosed with suffering from nostalgia.
As a former linguist, why had I not twigged the ending of the word? We talk of myalgia, neuralgia and so on, all with reference to pain. Nostalgia is not just the wistful longing for the past but can be painful. Sometimes powerfully so.
As a nation, we are experiencing some of that as we mourn the death of our queen. Perhaps our grief is poking other sore parts in our lives: the death of someone precious to us or the loss of something important. Life, inevitably, is always changing and that doesn’t always feel nice or comfortable.
The Bible often exhorts God’s people to remember, to consciously recall the times He had rescued and helped them, for example, the exodus from Egypt. Looking back with hindsight offers us a clearer perspective than we ever have at the time.
Since the reunion, I’ve been able to let the discomfort settle back down and thank God for His faithful leading over the years. I’ve been reminded that, however gawky I was back then, God chose me and continues to love me. I’m so very grateful for that!
The image is courtesy of Michal Jarmoluk on pixabay.com.
Jane Walters, formerly Clamp, is the author of Too Soon, a mother’s journey through miscarriage (SPCK) and a regular contributor to Premier Radio and UCB. She is also vice-chair of the Association of Christian Writers. Jane leads creative writing retreats and is a popular speaker locally and further afield. Visit: janewyattwalters.com
The views carried here are those of the author, not of Network Norfolk, and are intended to stimulate constructive debate between website users.