Musings at Altitude

I struggle big time with remembering things.  My wife says I just don’t pay attention and thus just don’t hear it to remember.  There’s some truth in that comment for sure, but I do believe I have memory issues.

For example, I have attempted time and time again throughout my life to memorize Bible verses – if I can get them in my heart, I can dwell on them every moment of every day.  But I’ve only been able to memorize two passages in spite of all that trying:

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge him,

And he will make your path straight.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

That whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Undoubtedly, those are two very good passages to remember, but it sure would be nice to have many, many more important and powerful passages memorized.

I remember when I entered the Air Force Academy they handed me a book called “Contrails” and the expectation was that we would memorize just about the whole book.  It was filled with quotes – very good quotes for sure – and under intense pressure (the freshman year brings back great memories of loud voices and severe scrutiny of my actions) I popped off those quotes of interest and made it through.  Here’s a picture of Contrails that I just found on Amazon:

 

But I don’t remember many, if any, of those quotes anymore.  My memory saved me, and then when the pressure eased, my memory purged itself allowing me to open up space for things that apparently may be more important going forward.

I filled that newly opened space with many things over the years – details of our wedding; specific information about day, hour, minute, weight, length, and shape of the head of each of our children at birth; birthdays; addresses; phone numbers – but all of them have been erased over time and only with lots of guessing and prodding can they be pulled back up.

But those two scripture passages remain.  I don’t understand why, but I’m very thankful that. 

And for my wife who will be celebrating her birthday next week, I do still remember your birthday!  So I can’t use my memory as an excuse for not getting you something special!