Memory

 

Not my own reflection but one that I want to remember. This resonates with both those who have lost a loved one to death or to dementia as well as those of us who are simply aging and forgetful.

"So when St. Ignatius prays, “Lord, receive my memory,” I find this challenging—frightening even.

My grandmother had Alzheimer’s, as did my great-grandmother, and I watched their memories of me, their husbands, and their families fade. And I saw my friend, ladened with brain cancer, lose the sharpness that earned her a PhD.

Can I give these memories to God? Can I surrender even these treasured stories to him?

And yet…

It is God who gave me these stories, these memories. He gave me vision to see the world in a particular way. To see a story in even the most mundane of moments.

All was from God in the first place.

I would never have these stories were it not for God.

So I pray as St. Ignatius, that “all I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it.”

Here is the entire post: Receive My Memory