Memories: Ouch!

“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”

Psalm 51:12

Autumn floods me with childhood memories of locusts inhabiting our farm and caterpillars on twigs, kept in mason jars, just waiting to become monarch butterflies.

And, with that flooding, often comes the tinged bittersweet feelings that accompany a childhood innocence of long ago.

I recently caught a funny post on the internet. It read: “Memories: Ouch!”

They say humor is humor because it is unflinching truth. And that certainly was the case with this post.

With all there is to recover from in life- death, loss, illness, abuse and addiction- perhaps, one of the most painful things is that of memories, being either the good or the bad kind.

It can be argued which one of those is the more painful to remember. “Bad” memories, like abuse, death and loss, are the understandably challenging memories to overcome.

But, perhaps, the more painful are the happy ones, the “good times.” For they represent the faint promise of life having an “all is well,” security blanket, comforting us with love, laughter and security. Therefore, it is usually during times when we perceive our lives to have those things lost or absent when these happiness memories are the rusted knife turning clockwise into souls. We can take on the attitude of Job:

“My spirit is broken,
    my days are cut short,
    the grave awaits me.”

Job 17:1

Trust me, Chapter 17 does not get much cheerier.

Nevertheless, there can be a restored version of our lives, of who we are. Can we challenge our lives to see it?

What are your memories?

What are the painful ones? What are the haunting ones?

What are the ones you do everything you can to suppress or escape from?

As the seasons change, how do you view your memories? How healed are you in conjunction of them?

Right now, this autumn, endeavor to view your memories for what they are: the locusts and transitioning caterpillars.

“And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm...”

Joel 2:25

See these memories as flowing to a better end.

Healing can already in motion. Determine what that looks like for you and move closer to it.

Copyright © 2019 by Sheryle Cruse