On The Remembrance Of Important Things - Like Underwear

The other day I wanted to use a quote from the diary of John Evelyn, a contemporary of Samuel Pepys. I’d read Evelyn’s diary about 15 years ago and I recalled that on Christmas Day in the year 1657, he told about an incident I wanted to use.

I walked over to the right bookcase. I reached out and chose the right volume (I have several editions of Evelyn’s diaries). I looked at my index. And there was the quote I wanted.

Oh, about the index: I always read with a pencil in hand and write my own keyword index of ideas (not specific words like a printed index, but ideas) in the back cover of any book so I can later find things that strike me.

Here’s the inside back cover of a book from my shelves:

Such penciled notes help me remember where I read what.

Anyhow, I felt very clever at being able to immediately lay my hands on a 400-year-old quote that I haven’t thought of for at least 15 years.

On the other hand…

Saturday night my wife asked me to transfer a load of clothes — almost all our underwear — from the washer to the dryer.

I forgot.

I remembered it this morning, four days later.

What is the dynamic at work here?

One obscure Christian teaching is that the Spirit of God will help us remember anything we really need to remember.

This belief is based on something Jesus said to His disciples at the Last Supper:

“The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”.

Of course most Bible scholars say that this promises refers only to the people present at the Last Supper, and that even then it only applies to their memory of the words of Jesus.

Others of us believe that indeed the Spirit of God will help us remember what is truly important even today.

I got to thinking about these things because of a blog post by my e-friend Jellyhead in Australia. On September 19^th. She wrote a lovely post about visiting her elderly grandmother whose memory is fading. (Her blog can be found at http://jellyheadrambles.blogspot.com/ )

As I grow older myself, the thought nags me that my mind and memory may also fail. That I’ll forget pots on the burner, appointments, feeding the fish, One-Way streets, paying bills, faces I love, people who care about me, locking the back door, laundry in the machine — a host of other important things.

All of us at any age exercise a selective memory; we hold onto certain striking things and forget others. For instance, we all remember just what we were doing on Nine Eleven when the World Trade Center was destroyed; but can you remember what you were doing on, say, Nine Nine, two days before?

No matter our age, we still forget or block out certain things.

“Did you do your homework?”

“No, Mama, I forgot”.

But even for those of us approaching senility, I believe that, while some things may indeed flake off and be lost, those things are, in the long-run, trivial things.

I believe that the Spirit of God enables us to remember the feeling of loving and of being loved. Yes, even when we grow old, afraid, frustrated, forgetful, and cantankerous (My kids say I’m already there) I believe that deep down, love is always remembered.

Faith and Hope may, or may not, abide, but love never fails.

But what about those clothes in the dryer?

Why did I forget those for days on end?

Could it be that the Spirit is not overly concerned about reminding me about underwear?

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Three Quick Book Notes:

· This morning UPS delivered sample copies of that never-before-published Confederate soldier’s diary I’ve been editing. It turned out BEAUTIFUL!!! I’m delighted. This thing was a bear to work on but the result really pleases me.

· This afternoon, my book A Dirty Old Man Goes Bad was featured, along with fine works by other authors, on the Lulu Blooker Prize site. The Blooker is a literary prize for blooks, i.e. books based on blogs. No, my book did not win a prize; the listing just means it is being considered by the judges. The Blooker Prize site can be found at http://lulublookerprize.typepad.com/

· Having cleared my desk for the moment, Thursday, I’ll finally be able to resume work on my history of the Jacksonville Fire Department… Maybe, God willing, I’ll finish that book before Christmas. This excites me because it means I will have accomplished everything in the writing work schedule I mapped out for the year last January.

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A Word To The Wise: For jock itch and chaffing between your legs, I don’t know what you should use — but rubbing alcohol ain’t it !!!