Impossible to forget

Our brains are designed in such an incredible way, the deep grooves throughout our grey matter are filled with memory receptors infiltrated within each crevice. Capturing memories and holding them – making it physically impossible to forget some things. Some brain experts consider that it is possible for a healthy brain to hold onto the earliest memories, from toddler hood, and retain them for a lifetime.

Impossible to forget.

Sometimes I feel like a few of my memory crevices are having a construction traffic jam, selectively remembering important things while not even trying to retain others. Numbers are losing out right now. I find that the busier I am, the more I rely upon the written reminders – the written memory- to stay on top of things, because frequently they are tied to numbers. My mind feels crammed with numbers, and keeping them straight is an organizational task which can be daunting if not attended to daily. This is why my Palm Pilot has been indispensable to me – my external brain!

Impossible to forget.

Everyone forgets things – the music stand that wasn’t easily seen so it was left behind, the meeting that was scheduled via cell phone while driving in congested traffic, the library book that fell behind a table and remained for three months collecting fines daily but “outta sight, outta mind”. A prescription pick up, a doctor’s appointment, a colleague’s name – forgetting has happened to us all. And for most things, it’s been easily attended with apology or compensation or accepting the consequences and provide the assurance that it won’t happen again.

Impossible to forget.

And yet, some circumstances are so charged with emotion and importance that they will never leave our minds, never be forgotten or eliminated in the daily routine of grocery lists and informal meetings and birthday parties and phone numbers. Branded upon our minds, with its grey matter memory receptors, they are always there. It’s a blessing (a special friendship and shared interest, a covenant relationship, a first kiss, an inspiration, a fantastic poem, a special lesson of life, the birth of a child) and it can be a curse (words that can never be taken back, the loss of a child, mistakes that are unalterable, the suicide of a loved one, a raised hand in anger, a traffic accident with a tragic ending, gunfire).

The life of Joseph recorded in Genesis exposes a man who encountered love and jealousy, success and tragedy, acceptance and rejection, integrity and deception throughout his lifetime. Abandoned by his brothers. Thought to be dead by his parents. Abused as a slave. Imprisoned unjustly. Forgotten within the halls of justice. Threatened with death threats. As a man of faith he found himself alone, relying upon himself and God to make it through one demanding obstacle after another.

It could seem understandable to get embittered with life, to learn the lessons that were thrown at him and decide to never trust again, never love again, to never forget, never reach out again – a natural reaction of protection, self-preservation. But within the Scriptures we see this incredible window exposing Joseph’s relationship with God and how he recognized God’s activity and presence.

Genesis 41:50-52, “Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named his first born Manasseh (forget) and said, ‘It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and my father’s household.’ The second son was name Ephraim (double prosperity) and said, ‘It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

The root of the verb translated here, to forget, is not based on elimination as wiping the memory from the mind as a teacher wipes the chalk from a chalkboard. This verb is not about removing the memory. It is not like brain washing or hypnotism. No, it is more aligned with a different aspect of memory. “To remove the pain, the sting, the injury, the hurt” – this is more in line with the verb, this Manasseh. Joseph uses this verb in naming his child…”God has removed the pain of my memory, God has removed the sting from my memories. I still remember but the pain is not oppressive.”

When reflecting on his life, Joseph praises God for removing the injury, pain and sting from the memories he may never be able to forget. Joseph transmits his pain and injury and gives them to God to handle and manage. He recognizes that he would be bitter and unable to forgive without the anointed embalming of God’s touch upon those memories.

Its an important lesson, a crucial lesson for me, that God promises to walk down the corridors of my mind and examine the still life portraits hanging on the wall, examine the details with me and help me give birth to a Manasseh, a living example of His divine ability to remove the injury and sting of the memories which can never be forgotten. We are built to remember, but God remains with us with the deep promise that His divine love can help remove the oppressive impact these memories can carry, these memories that we cannot seem to erase.

You do not need to be imprisoned by your tragic memories, unable to move ahead or reach out because of what you cannot remove from your mind. God is right there with you, holding you close, taking every breath with you. He is there providing you with the strength of heart to know He can help you give birth to a Manasseh, a chance to let His divine love remove the sting of the memories which seem like a prison. Reach out to Him, He’s reaching out to you full of understanding, compassion and strength.