The Power of Memory

This isn't the wood pecker I saw, but it is similar.

Just outside my 2^nd floor window is a balcony and three feet from the balcony grow two large, beautiful quaking aspen trees. Yesterday while watching the wind gently rustle the aspen leaves two wood peckers landed in the tree and began pecking at the trunk. I’ve never seen a wood pecker that close before and was startle by the how brilliant the blue feathers sparkled in the sun. There is an awe and reverence that comes when I see nature up close and for some reason the magnificence of that sight filled me with more awe than usual as I watched the two beautiful birds.

After a few minutes the birds flew away, but the sight and feeling has not left me. God has given us such an amazing world and I am grateful for it. I’m also grateful for the power He has given me to remember the beautiful moments so that when times aren’t as wonderful as they were yesterday I can recall the beauty and bring it into the present. What a blessing! A beautiful world and the gift of memory to recall the beauty when the storms come. God thought of everything, didn’t He!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day, and if you aren’t I hope you remember!

Remembering!

The people who have given me such wonderful memories!

On Mother's Day I was overcome with a flood of memories of all the good times I've experienced as a mother. My mind floated through the years and landed on sock wars, Family Home Evening pantomimes, camping trips, dancing in the rain, playing machines, picnics at Mueller Park, story telling, and especially moments when I snuggled my toddlers close and listened to them giggle. I was in tears most of the afternoon as all these thoughts and many others danced in my mind.

Then on Monday I received a gift in the mail from D6. She had taken some of our old VHS family movies and converted them to DVDs. It was the best gift I've ever been given and as I watched three hours of home video so many more memories came dancing into my head. My head is a family tango! But the best part is how thinking about all these wonderful things has made me feel.

Too often in the past I've been guilty of remember the worst of the past instead of the best. But I'm here to tell you that by forgetting the worst and dwelling on the best it makes every moment of life richer and happier, and it infuses hope into the soul. After all, the past is over and we can't do anything about it so why stew over it? Instead relish every good thing from the past and watch how it enhances the present and the future.

There is power in doing this!!!!

Using the Power of Memory

Way back in the days of manual typewriters—before word processing and before electric typewriters—I learned to test out the touch of a typewriter by typing this sentence: “Now is the time for all good boys to come to the aid of their country.” Supposedly this sentence covers most of the keys on the typewriter so you can get the feel of it. To this day, every time I put my hands on a key pad those words go through my head.

Touching my fingers to alphabet keys also brings back another memory every time I touch them. In my freshman year of college I was taking a linguistics class where we had to memorize the phonetic symbols. I transcribed the "good boys" sentence into phonetic symbols figuring if it had most of the keys it would be an easy way to learn most of the symbols. To my surprise the final exam asked us to write out that “good boys” sentence in phonetic symbols. I aced the exam!

The fact that forty-plus years later the simple act of putting my fingers on a key pad brings back those memories is intriguing to me. Our minds are powerful and if instead of just letting things happen we recognize the power of the mind and memory we can make them work for us. Last week I wrote about Alma's sermon in which he encouraged the people to use the power to imagine. In that same sermon (Alma 5) he urges the people to also use the power to remember. But we don't have to wait for something to happen to us and then remember it. We can make associates with things we see each day so that every time we see that thing we remember what we have associated it with.

For example, I have a fan over my bed that has five blades. In symbology the number five represents the Atonement. Each morning as I wake up the first thing I see is that fan and I remember and give thanks for the Atonement. It is a magnificent way to start the day!

Create Your Day

This restful week is coming to an end, but I’ve got lots of beautiful memories now to get me through the busy weeks ahead. I was able to enjoy all of my favorite things—good food, bicycling on the old Union Pacific Rail Trail, walking at least three miles a day in the fresh mountain air, swimming and hot tubing at night, writing, reading, and good food. (Oh, I said that, but it’s worth saying again!) Now life moves on.

Fall semester starts on Monday, and I’ll be teaching five classes. It will be a busy semester, but I’m rested and ready now. And any time life gets hectic I can close my eyes and remember this feeling. I can bring it all back any time I need it. The power to remember is a beautiful gift that we all should use more. Store up the good memories, let go of the bad and then review those good memories any time you want.

Too often we do the opposite. We cling to the bad and forget the good. But when we realize it is a choice that we have power over, we can exercise that power and choose to savor the good. Try it right now. Close your eyes and think of a fantastic moment in your life. Let the good feelings fill you. Savor all the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures from that moment. Make it as real as possible and then come back to now. Feels good, doesn’t it! And you can do it any time you want to.

While it’s important to live in the present, every once in a while the present can be enhanced by remembering the good of the past!

The Power of Memory

In Alma’s great speech to the people of Zarahemla, one of the first things he asks is if they have “sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers?” He goes on to ask them if they have remembered God’s mercy and longsuffering toward them and how through the atonement Christ has delivered them from hell. He asks if they have remembered how the hearts of the people were changed and how they were freed from bondage.

This is one of the great powers of the mind that help us to use our agency correctly. If we use our minds to remember Christ and all the marvelous things He has done for us and our forefathers, it becomes very difficult to give into temptation. Learning these stories and then thinking about them often is empowering.

 I have many family stories I often recall about the hardships my ancestors endured so that I could be a member of Christ’s church. There are also a lot of Church history stories that are the heritage of all members of the Church.  I also have many experiences of the tender mercies of the Lord in my own life that I recall often to help me remember how much the Lord loves me and how He has helped me. But most of all, as Alma says, I am blessed by remembering the Atonement and what it means to me personally.

 If we constantly keep these things in our memory, we are fortified to make right choices and every time we make right choices our faith grows. Remembering the good and remembering Christ fortifies us. Memory, therefore, is a powerful tool that helps us draw closer to God.