“I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you.”

(Philippians 1:3)

Our experience, C.S. Lewis wrote, does not end with the event that causes the experience, but the experience works on us, matures within us, and grows into something beautiful as we reflect on and remember the original event. Biblically, remembrance of the works of God is seen as something that helps keep us living faithfully when tempted to go astray. Our lives are filled with experiences and interactions with people and ideas, but it is our remembrance that ties all of these experiences together into a unified story…it provides cohesion and continuity and of course, is one of the reason that diseases like Alzheimer’s Disease is so devastating…for it robs a person not only of individual memories, but also of the continuity that binds these memories together in a unified way.

Thus Paul, as he remembers back to the people that form the church in Philippi, rejoices, for their kindness and grace stirs in him good memories and a greater reminder of God’s own grace. This, of course, is especially important, for Paul is in jail as he writes this letter. Thus, these memories must also provide a piton of hope upon the mountain of trial that he sees before him. How, indeed, we all need such reminders of God’s grace to us through others to remind us why we press onward in the calling to which our Lord has called us.

It is my prayer that remembrance of God’s people that have influenced your life in the past would also bring you thanksgiving and that the faithfulness that such people demonstrated would spur you on to faithfulness. It is my prayer that you would rejoice in the God that has given you such people in the past, no matter how dark or difficult your life may seem at the present. It is my prayer that the memory of God’s hand in your life directly and through others may also remind you that you have a God that will never leave nor forsake you. And it is my prayer that these memories will serve as the unifying theme of your life, helping us to rejoice in the successes and learn from the failures, that we might grow more faithful as we mature in faith. Friends, may we rejoice in the memory of one another and give our God thanks that he has seen fit to bring us together in the way he has so done.