By: Denny

There was a TV show that aired from 1950 – 1961 called This is Your Life. It was hosted by Ralph Edwards. He would have a guest who was a well-known personality and surprise them by bringing people from their past to recount memories they have of that person. They would speak from offstage then afterwards be brought onstage. It usually was someone the guest hadn’t seen for decades such as a childhood friend or maybe their third-grade teacher. It was interesting and fun to see their unrehearsed reactions. This got me to thinking about my life and people I’ve known. What would they say about me? Hopefully it would be something good and not embarrassing or something I wouldn’t want anyone to know about. Everyone has plenty of those tucked away in the back of their minds. It’s a mystery how our minds will call up or replay a memory from out of nowhere. You’ll be going about your day and suddenly a memory is triggered. It may be by something you smelled, heard, touched, saw, or a word that was spoken. It’s amazing the amount of information our brains can store with the ability to recall them instantly. Not only that, but with such clarity that you can feel like you’re being transported back in time and reliving the moment.

I recently took a trip down memory lane with the help of the streetside function on Google Maps. I was born in Cedar Rapids, IA and lived there through the sixth grade. My first school that I can remember was Garfield where I attended kindergarten and first grade. I pulled up the house we lived in on 31^st ST NE and retraced the route that my brother and several friends took to walk to school. It showed only .8 of a mile, but it seemed a lot further back then. It was a beautiful walk in the Fall in the crisp air and with trees turning colors and dropping their leaves. I can still remember kicking up piles of them as we walked along. There was always the wonderful smell of people burning leaves which lingered all day. From there we moved to the Noelridge Park area and lived on Dover ST NE. Once again, I did a virtual walk up and down the street and memories began to flood my mind. That’s where David my best friend lived. We did everything together and even had a secret whistle that I can still do. There’s the swimming pool, the sledding hill, the pond we skated on in Winter, the park where we flew our homemade kites now populated by huge trees, and the houses where my many girlfriends lived. Ooops, don’t tell Lucy I said that. Somehow the streets and houses looked smaller than I remembered. I guess everything is big when you’re a kid. I remembered the war games a bunch of us guys played. At night all the kids in the neighborhood played Hide and Seek, Kick the Can, or Spotlight. I remembered the silly ways we would determine who would be “IT”. I virtually walked from house to house doing my old paper route and to my surprise remembered a few of the customer’s names. I relived the Halloween night my brother Steve’s Indian costume caught on fire as he was lighting the jack-o-lantern. I mistakenly thought it was him playing the part as he rolled on the ground putting it out. Then there was the time my sister Kathie accidently got hit in the head when I was swinging a golf club. She’s okay now, I think, if not blame me. 🙂 I recalled swinging so high on our swing set that the legs would come out of the ground. I’ll never forget the time we baby-sat a parakeet for some friends. It got loose in the house and was crushed by a closing door. R.I.P. (LOL now) Also the time the whole family was in the car to go visit some friends of my parents when mom suddenly realized Kathy was still in the bathtub, and the time Kathie got left on the city bus after a trip downtown. I can still see mom running after it and yelling STOP! (ROFLOL) Those were good years growing up and I could go on and on writing about them. Though the majority were good, there were a few bad ones I don’t care to remember. Just as good memories bring happiness the sad or bad ones can also bring back feelings of anger, pain, guilt, and sorrow. I’m confident in saying that such is the case with everyone. So, the question that needs to be answered is: How do you forget the bad memories? We all wish it were as easy as having a delete button. My experience has been that some memories you may never forget. It’s like a recycle bin on your computer that even though a file is deleted you can pull it up at will anytime you want. The difference is what emotion or feelings do the bad memories still stir in you. That’s the deciding factor that determines whether you’ve overcome them.

The Apostle Paul, before his conversion, did much harm to Christians and the early church to the point of putting them in prison or even to death. I’m sure that later those memories would try to haunt him and replay themselves in his mind. He could have been overcome with sorrow and regret if he would’ve dwelt on them. In Phillipians 3:13 he writes, “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Even in the words he used it implies there was a struggle in his mind, but he made a conscious effort to forget the past and focus on the greater goal, that being the call of God. He goes on to list in chapter 4:8 those things he encouraged people to dwell and meditate on. Likewise, Peter, who had once denied that he even knew Jesus, didn’t let that memory hinder him in fulfilling his calling. In Genisis 37-50 we read about Joseph and the terrible things he endured, but he states in chapter 41:51 that God had made him to forget the past.

The message of redemption and forgiveness is found throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. God is the only one who can help you forget those bad memories, because all things are possible with Him. When you turn to Him you become a new creation; old things pass away, and all things become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) God says in Isaiah 43:18, “Do not remember the former things”, and in Jeremiah 31:34, “For I will forgive their iniquities and remember their sin no more.” Friend, we all have memories of mistakes, failures, and regrets that need to be forgotten and put to rest. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” If I hadn’t experienced this for myself, I would be a hypocrite in writing these blogs. Following is a poem I wrote many years ago which I hope will encourage you.

It’s About Time

Time is cruel it doesn’t stop; it doesn’t care if you’re on top.

It doesn’t ask if you’re okay; it just brings forth another day.

Minute by minute; hour by hour; no one can escape it’s elusive power.

Time is a prison without any bars; whose inmates are sentenced to 24 hours.

Time will reward you if wisely used, and you reap what you sow if time is abused.

What we do is up to us; time doesn’t care; it makes no fuss.

There’s a time for everything under the sun, and one life is given to everyone.

We can’t turn back . . . we have to go on . . . there’s no doing over what’s already done.

We’d all do things different, or so we say; if time would just bring back yesterday.

There are good times . . . to remember; there are bad times . . . to forget,

But today goes on . . . . time’s not over yet.

“Give it some time”, we’ve all heard them say, and healing will come for the yesterdays.

Time is so long . . . when we look ahead, but looking back . . . it’s short instead.

Time is so precious it comes and goes; from where and to nobody knows.

Lonely times are the worst times of all; it’s then we can sense the prison walls.

In the darkest hour; in the middle of night,

We want to give up, but God brings forth His light.

Time is the handkerchief in God’s hand; that dries our tears and helps us to stand.

Time is a gift from God above; it’s not eternal as is His love.

In times past I would worry and doubt,

But since I met Jesus . . . I know what time is about.

                                                                                                       Denny Hook        Copyrighted  1985

If you’ve never asked Jesus to forgive your sins and give Him control of your life, don’t you think It’s About Time?