It’s September. The Minnesota State Fair, among other things, an exposition on everything imaginable that can be served up on a stick, has ended; the Labor Day grills have been scoured and stored away; kids are back in school–in most cases, donning new “threads”; and the Earth and sun have once again aligned in such a way that it is virtually half day and half night all around the world, during what is referred to as the September Equinox.
And I, once again, am looping the lyrics to a captivating song; the first tune sung in the longest running musical in the world, The Fantasticks . . . namely, “Time to Remember”:
“Try to remember the kind of September when life was slow and oh, so mellow . . . “
There’s something haunting about this compelling rhyme’s call to remembrance . . . “Try to remember when life was so tender that no one wept except the willow”; masterful writing and imagery, in my opinion.
Remembering . . . valuing those things we should not let slip away, memories which–when life is anything but slow and oh, not so mellow–may get swallowed up and buried.
My father, while on military tour of duty in the Pacific Islands, recounts how he would stand at the bow of the merchant ship on moonlit nights at sea and hum the tune to the much loved song during World War II, when it became an anthem for those serving overseas, “I’ll Be Seeing You.”– “our song,” as he (and millions of other military personnel) would refer to it. In later years, whenever he heard that song, he would relive that experience on board ship. The song became a memory trigger that would transport him back to the scene; as if he were living it again.
He would recapture the appearance of a moment, like a photograph that shows us a perfect still image of a point in time; the feelings and emotions allowing the more visual detail fade into a secondary background.
Russian-American writer and psychologist, Maria Konnikova, who received her A.B. in psychology and creative writing from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University suggests, “Our memory journals are rich and varied and full of meaning. They are central to our sense of self and to our sense of the world.”
Eve Marder, Professor of Neuroscience in the Biology Department at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts observes, “The role of memory in our everyday lives is changing as we move into a technology-dominated universe in which we use phones and other devices to store and access information that we once kept in our heads. Perhaps this is progress, but I am not sure.”
Author Jon Bloom claims, “The memory is one of God’s most profound, mysterious, and merciful gifts granted to us.”
Early Christian theologian and philosopher, Saint Augustine, whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy, portrays the memory in almost poetic prose in his work, Augustine’s Confessions, Book Ten: “And I enter the fields and spacious halls of memory, where are stored as treasures the countless images that have been brought into them from all manner of things by the senses.
“All this I do within myself, in that huge hall of my memory. For in it, heaven, earth, and sea are present to me, and whatever I can cogitate [cogo (collect) and cogito (to go on collecting)]–about them–except what I have forgotten. There also I meet myself and recall myself.
“Great is this power of memory, exceedingly great, O my God–a large and boundless inner hall! Who has plumbed the depths of it? Yet it is a power of my mind, and it belongs to my nature.”
Jesus knew the importance of remembering. Recall his words to his disciples at the Last Supper, held in an upper room just outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem just before he was crucified. He broke bread and poured wine–symbolizing his body to be broken and blood to be shed, and as he gave it to the disciples he encouraged them, “this do in remembrance of me.”
. . . and there was the penitent thief on the cross, “Remember me when you enter your kingdom.”
. . . and Mary, mother of Jesus, upon hearing of the Shepherd’s angelic encounter, “Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully; holding them dear, deep within herself.”
It is good to remember the experiences of life. It is why we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, visit cemeteries and reminisce through old correspondence, photo albums and yearbooks.
There is something to be said about holding on to elements of our past in order to help ensure a healthier future.
Douglas Southall Freeman, former American historian, biographer, newspaper editor, and author best known for his multi-volume biographies of Robert E. Lee and George Washington–for which he was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes–advocated, “Character is the essence of all that a man has seen in life and regards as high and exalted. Character is like truth: the substance of the things that a man has forgotten but the substance of the things that are worth remembering in life.”
I choose to remember . . . for it is in remembering, that we often find our salvation.
“Deep in December it’s nice to remember the fire of September that made us mellow . . . “
Former Cook County Commissioner Garry Gamble is writing this ongoing column about the various ways government works, as well as other topics.
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