Moments vs. Memory

This past weekend I spoke at a youth retreat for Indianapolis Westside Church of the Nazarene. The retreat was held at an indoor water park and everyone had a good time. On Saturday night after my message, God came in a really cool way and was working on the teenagers. I sort of just slipped to the side of the room and sat there soaking up the moment. It was so amazing to see young people praying and seeking God and to realize that God was speaking to them. It was just one of those perfect moments where everything just seems to work out. You never want to leave those moments. I totally relate to the story of Jesus' transfiguration when Peter offers to put up three shelters - one for Jesus, Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:1-13). I imagine in this scenario that Peter is acting like a little kid meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time - you have no idea what you are saying or doing, but you want that moment to last forever.

Well, through the technology of airplanes, I began Monday morning in Indianapolis, but by 10am, I was back in office world at Duke University. As I went through the day, I constantly caught myself being annoyed with my trivial job and completely forgetting the high from the weekend.

I think that, for the most part, humans have horrible memories. We are so quick to point out all that we do not have, while completely forgetting all that we do have. We are so quick to point out all the ways that God seems to be absent in this world, while completely forgetting the many times in which God has been so real to us. For this reason, I absolutely love the Christian calendar. God knows that the human memory has a difficult time remembering anything beyond one year. Therefore, as followers of Jesus, we need to be constantly reliving his life. Every year, we need to be reminded of Jesus' birth, as well as his death and resurrection.

Here's to hoping the moments find a way of remaining in my memory.