Orange Moon Cafe "More Than a Memory"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe… 

          "More Than a Memory"

    I have not seen Bruce in more than 50 years.  I do not even know if he still remains in this world.  However, each October 28th, I spend the day offering many prayers for him, asking our Heavenly Father to reveal His grace and truth to Bruce if he is still with us, and to work in his life according to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and Bruce's need.

   "We give thanks unto God and our Father, praying always for you" (Colossians 1:3).

    Bruce was my first best friend.  We knew each other from the time we were five years old, until I moved away from the neighborhood when I was ten.  We did the usual things little boys do, riding bicycles, playing sports, pretending to be soldiers in battle, and discussing deep philosophical issues regarding truth, reality, ethics and morality (just kidding about the last part! :)  ).  We got along very well, had a few tussles here and there, but always reconciled.  We remained friends until I moved, and I saw Bruce only once afterward when his family invited me to stay with them for a weekend after they had moved to the country.

    Regarding October 28, I remember to pray for Bruce on this day each year because my birthday is on October 29th.  This was a neat thing for 2 little boys, having birthdays (and birthday parties!) so close together.  So it's easy to remember the day.  After I became a born again believer in the Lord Jesus, the thought occurred to me one year that I could do more than remember Bruce each October 28th.  I could pray for him on that day (and other days throughout the year), thus making a memory more than a memory.  Recalling Bruce became an altar in my heart to be visited in devotion to God and to my first best friend.  Thus, I'll be praying for Bruce in this day, giving thanks for him, and making request for he and his family.

    "More than a memory."  I try to live by this axiom that came to my heart and mind many years ago.  The human brain is a marvelous gift, "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).  Our capacity to remember serves us in countless ways, and constitutes a primary distinction in our humanity originally made in the image of God.  We must remember to effectively function, but even more, we must remember in order to effectually and fervently serve the Lord and people.  "I will remember the works of the Lord" (Psalm 77:11).  I have no doubt that praying for Bruce each year on October 28th involves the exercise of heart and brain for the primary purpose God gave me a heart and brain.  I remember Him, and in such holy light, I more than remember Bruce.  Such a gift applies to countless other people who still journey upon the pathways of my memory, and of yours as well.  More than a memory.  I'll be thinking about such grace as I think about Bruce today.  And as I pray for him.

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."

(Philippians 1:3)

Weekly Memory Verse

      We give thanks unto God and our Father, praying always for you.

 (Colossians 1:3)

  

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