09/16/2026
My Shepherd's Staff article is in Mason County News today. I guess I forgot to sign it correctly, because it just says, "Pastor Stella" with no church name. Either that or I'm famous around here and that's all anyone needs? Anyway, here it is in case you don't get the paper.
Remembering Matters
Remember your sister’s birthday.
Remember to buy dog food and milk.
Remember the Alamo!
We have a lot to remember every day. Some of us feel the effects of old age creeping in and remember less and less.
Scripture has a lot to say about remembering. In fact, the Bible says “remember” 150 times. Many of those “remember” commands are in the early books of the Old Testament, directed at the newly freed slaves dwelling in the desert, being formed into God’s people. Throughout the Old Testament, they are called to remember how God parted the Red Sea, how he set them free. Remembering that they were once slaves would prompt them to be kind to the strangers in their land. They were to have mercy because they received mercy.
Remembering helps us appreciate what we have been given, what we have overcome, and who we have become by God’s grace. “Once you were not a people, now you are God’s people,” Peter’s epistle reminds. “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, so that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)
Jesus echoed the command, and at the last supper, he gave the disciples a sacred meal to help them remember. Every time they tasted bread and w**e, it triggered their brains to remember the great thing that had been given to them, a new covenant that made them free from the ultimate enemies – sin and death.
What you remember determines what you do, which determines who you are. If you remember the harm done to you, you become bitter. If you remember the blessings, you become grateful.
I like the way Paul put it in the letter to the Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” When we do that, we become more Christlike.
I find myself making choices every day about what I will hold on to, act on, or stay mad about. I also choose what to ignore, when to assume the most charitable explanation, and how to let go of a small thing or forgive a big thing. Some memories cling, and we have to pray to get free of them, but a lot of times, we simply make a choice to remember.
I spend a lot of time on social media. I see it as part of my job to be informed and connected, but I find that my diet of drama reinforces a lot of my fears and anger. It can help me remember things I should best forget.
I also spend time reading and studying Scripture and praying alone or with others. I see it as part of my job to be informed and connected. I find that a diet of grace dispels a lot of my fear and anger. It can help me remember things that have shaped my life for the better.
Sometimes it hits me just how much I need less of the first and more of the second.
What about you? What are you working to remember?
How are you working to remember?
