Calling to mind

     As I mentioned in the second part of yesterday's post, I attended a funeral yesterday for the mother of a good friend of mine.  As those of us who have been involved with funerals know, the reality of death brings out a desire to remember - to call to mind the experiences that we have had with the deceased.  Remembering is vital to the experience, and with the remembering comes, hopefully, the celebrating of the blessings that have touched our lives or the heightening of the awareness for forgiveness ... asked or given.  It is a milestone event.

     In the reading from Joshua today, the new leader of Israel leads his people through a time of remembering - all that the God of their Fathers had done for them, all that they had been given, all that was expected of them.  This remembering came at the moment when they were to begin a new adventure as they entered into the Promised Land.   They were invited to "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever."   We are invited to do the same.  It does not hinge on an experience like death, but should be found at every moment of our day.  In recalling the goodness of God, we dedicate the day to him in our waking moments.  Throughout the day we pause and give thanks.  At the end of the day we seek forgiveness for our shortcomings and sing the praise of God for his giftedness to us as we entrust ourselves to his care.  Our entire existence is to be caught up in the experience of "God with us".  In that way we are prepared to "enter the promised land" at a moment's notice and to celebrate our blessedness in the present moment.

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     Yesterday's news announced 5 troops killed, 30 a few days before, added to the countless lives lost in our two wars being fought for the past ten years.  We pray for those who lost their lives, we pray for our men and women serving so nobly, but we ask: When will it end?  When is enough enough?  We seem to accept it as part of the normal course of things.  It cannot be seen in that way.