Pastor’s Column 2/16/2025

PASTOR’S COLUMN

7 “Remember the days of old, consider the generations long past. Ask your [parents] and [they] will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. 8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided all humankind, He set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. 9 For the Lord’s portion is His people. Jacob His allotted inheritance. 10 In a desert land He found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of His eye.

Deuteronomy 32: 7- 10, NIV

“Neither Caustic Nor Canceled!”

The earthly journey of all people is preserved and shared through their unique history. No history should be completely disregarded. The good, undesirable, and difficult aspects of our place in time were meant to be heard and learned. None of us should ever forget the people, places, events, and experiences, which have shaped our character. Our faith is certainly owed to some sense of history, such as when, where, and how we came to accept and embrace our God. In a very difficult period, an unnamed Jewish temple musician in exile spoke of dire consequences if he failed to  “remember” his homeland;  the center of his life and faith. He said, “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp. May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.” History, the accumulation and recollection of God’s presence in life events, brought purpose and definition to this person’s identity. Like the people of Biblical presence, our history as a people is never divorced from our experiences and encounters with God. Our task is to tell our stories; share our narratives; and to publicly affirm the worth and dignity of our being as ordained by the God who created us. God is speaking to a nation and the world through our resilient narratives. The iteration of our history is not  caustic,  nor can if everbecome canceled!