I WONDER how you remember things?

Here are a few suggestions that I came up with; diary, smart phone, a note-pad, a knot in a hanky, scrap of paper, calendar, message board, email reminders, hands to remember a short shopping list, remembering things by visualising objects, setting a reminder or asking someone to remind you, mental note, post-it notes, put stuff by the door ... the list goes on.

I wonder if you’ve ever learnt to play an instrument? How did you learn to read music? Perhaps your teacher taught you ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Football’ and FACE [treble clef spaces notes] to help you remember? In Sunday school and holiday clubs we often use songs to help remember stories and bible verses.

The Christian faith is built on remembrance; in the Old Testament, we see mountains, stones, stories, poetry, songs, wells and many other symbols used to remember what God’s people have been saved from; years of captivity and slavery.

In the New Testament, the most obvious example of remembrance is that of Jesus, who, knowing that he was heading towards his death, had supper with his friends and asked them to remember him through a simple meal. Christians all over the world still share in this meal each Sunday. It’s what we now call holy communion, or eucharist.

It’s deeply Christian to remember the things of the past, the good and the bad, and it’s good to learn from them. The book of Isaiah chapter 46 tells us that God loves us with a love that will never forget, likening this love to that of a mother nursing her child.

Each of us will have our own experiences, our own memories, our own things to remember. In our remembering, let’s remember that God loves us and be determined to count our blessings, like in the song from the film ‘White Christmas’

“When I'm worried and I can't sleep

I count my blessings instead of sheep

And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

When my bankroll is getting small

I think of when I had none at all

And I fall asleep counting my blessings.”

Rev Lee Davies, St. Michael & All Angels, Knights Enham and St. Paul's Church & Community Centre, Smannell Road.