Lent: Memory

"One of the great sorrows which came to human beings when Adam and Eve left the garden was the loss of memory, memory of all that God's children are meant to be."  Madeline L'Engle, Walking on Water

Could the awkward, unsettled parts of my life be caused by the forgetting?  I strive to "fulfill my calling" and "use my gifts," but always there is something out there, just beyond my reach; elusive, something that would fully satisfy my cravings and smooth out the wrinkles in my sheets.  

A friend and I were talking about where he and his dream fit in this world.  He shrugged and said, "We're aliens anyway."  He doesn't expect to fit east of Eden.   

The Scriptures respond to this ache:  wait, be patient, persevere, hope.  

Observing Lent has been an exercise in memory...remembering the man of sorrows, from the ragged edges of his story to the blazing cross at the center, and remembering what that means for me: that because I identify with this grand story, from Adam to Christ, I know there is something I'm forgetting.