Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Strategic Monk

Home
Contemplative
Practices From the Inside Out: We Remember and We Forget

Practices From the Inside Out: We Remember and We Forget

Last updated on: May 25, 2019 at 3:48 am by Greg Richardson

Practices From the Inside Out: We Remember and We Forget 2019-05-25T03:48:31-08:00 Greg Richardson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We Remember

This is a weekend for us to remember.

We take time in our busy schedules to pay attention to the giants on whose shoulders we stand. Some of them are people we have known who helped shape our lives. There are those who fought to bring about and protect the freedoms we enjoy.

This long weekend is an opportunity for us to remember and be grateful.

We remember by setting aside our assumptions and preconceptions and taking time to listen. When we remember we hear the voices of the people who have taught us. Some of them taught us in school while others wrote books which changed our lives.

There are times we try helping ourselves remember by building a memorial. We might erect a statue or a building, put up a tombstone or a website, or get a tattoo.

Each memorial we build is intended to help us remember something or someone. The memorials we see remind us of the stories behind them.

We remember when we take time to pay attention to the memorials we experience. Many of us walk past memorials built to help us remember people killed in war. Some of us visit museums or parks designed to remind us what life was like in other times or places.

People do not build memorials to motivate us to live in the past. We remember, which inspires us to find new ways to live in the future.

Each of us has our own ways of remembering. Some of us remember in ways which twist and turn our past to fit it into our own desires. Other people work hard not to remember what they struggle to put behind them.

How we remember shapes how we understand ourselves and the world around us.

We Remember and We Forget

We tend to forget.

Things happen we think we will remember for the rest of our lives, but new experiences push them aside. Moments we struggle for years to achieve fade into the forgotten past. People who teach us things which change our lives get lost in the crowds within our memories.

It is easy for us to become intrigued and distracted. We lose sight of what is important to us in the swirling tides of urgent demands. Many of us get caught up in winning and earning until we forget what inspired us in the first place.

We set aside a weekend for remembering, but we spend it running errands and grilling hotdogs.

It takes practice to remember well.

Remembering well means we choose what we remember. We make decisions, set our priorities, and commit ourselves.

Some of us practice remembering the way we would practice a sport. We exercise our memories, setting aside time regularly to train and strengthen our ability to remember like a muscle. Remembering well takes time and effort.

Our remembering well is not limited to recalling our experiences accurately. Remembering grows deeper and produces wisdom as we reflect on what we can recall. We spend time contemplating our memories, letting them live in us, experiencing them in new ways. As we reflect we begin to find things we have missed and to see them from new perspectives.

The people, the ideas, the emotions, the experiences which shaped us come back to visit us again. We spend time renewing our acquaintance with them, remembering and reflecting. As we grow in understanding we are shaped again and gain new insights.

We remember, allowing the past to wash over us in the present and continue to shape us for the future.

We Remember Even When We Forget

Even when we are not holding something in the direct view of our minds’ eye, we remember.

We remember what we experience and it shapes how we respond to new experiences. Even when we are not able to recall details or have put it out of our minds, we remember.

I know people who have detailed, specific memories of experience which changed how they live. Even when we remember dramatic experiences, we only remember them from our own point of view.

There have been people in my life who I did not like. Some of them I feared and toward some of them I felt anger. They had treated me with tremendous injustice. I knew what I knew based on tangible evidence beyond any reasonable doubt.

My memories of some of these people shaped the ways I saw myself and the world around me.

After years of holding onto my fear and resentment and anger, reflection revealed something new to me. A contemplative approach to my own memories began to show me what I was missing. I was only seeing what had happened from my own perspective.

Spiritual life urges me to remember from other people’s points of view.

Remembering Changes How We Remember

This weekend we remember the people who have shaped our lives. How and what we remember can change how we remember of this weekend.

Many of us will look back and remember how the weather affected our weekends. We may create fond memories of sharing good food with good friends in the spring air. Some of us will remember what we did with our families and friends.

None of those memories would be unpleasant or particularly harmful.

This weekend is an opportunity for us to change how we remember.

We can take time this weekend remembering people and experiences which have shaped us. Sitting still and remembering would be a good habit to begin this weekend.

It is not physically challenging. We simply spend some time listening to the sacred stillness within us and in the world around us.

As we sit still, listening, we will be reminded of those people who have poured their lives into us. We may hear suggestions of the people into whom we could pour our own lives.

How we remember this weekend could become a memorial to remind us of our own story.

What will change how we remember today?

When will we remember and when will we forget this week, and this weekend?

[Image by Lapichon]

Greg Richardson is a spiritual life mentor and coach in Southern California. He is a recovering attorney and a lay Oblate with New Camaldoli Hermitage near Big Sur, California. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com, and his email address is [email protected].

Blog

Spiritual Practices

Previous Post

May 23, 2019

Listening to Sacred Stillness: We Begin and End in Stillness

Next Post

May 28, 2019 Listening to Sacred Stillness: Finding the Stillness Within Us

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Blog Book Reviews Everything Else Guest Posts Leadership Monastic Strategies Neighborhood Pilgrimages Sacred Stillness Spiritual Direction Spiritual Practices Work

Select a Month May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was a "phylactery" used by Jews during prayer?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A lamp A musical instrument A festival garment A small leather box with scripture