A time to remember, and a time to forget

January 1, 2012

Isaiah 43:18

‘’Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.’’

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Though the second passage above does not mention a time to remember, or a time to forget, other places in the Bible do mention those themes.

I am working on understanding the larger context of the verse in Isaiah above, and joining that together with verses such as the many times that Abraham built memorials, that were intended to be reminders of significant spiritual events in his life.

In this context I am bumbling through trying to understand the Old Testament concept of Herem or Cherem (in Isaiah 43:28) and trying to understand the dedication of certain things to God, without any possibility of return, and the destruction of those things, in the context of where I am today, New Year’s Day, 2012.

That will be the starting point for me, as Sarah and I work together to return to Mozambique this year to help the children and babies at the Maforga mission.

We will try and post some of our history of how we have arrived at where we are today, and some of what we understand of our future plans.

A time to remember, and a time to forget.