I once wrote a magazine article about a friend and her recent project. She and her patriotic organization were working in a local cemetery cleaning up history—literally. They toured a local cemetery and refurbished grave markers to make them more legible. While there, I browsed among the gravestones.
One stone caught my eye. Since the lettering was visible, I realized it marked the grave of a man who had lived during the nineteenth century. From the dates, I could see he lived to about seventy.
However, another grave was more poignant. It was for an infant–a little boy who lived just one day. Two local persons, probably both with families who grieved their deaths. Now, they were just names carved in stone with no one to mourn them.
We all have memories of deceased loved ones—perhaps even of ancestors we never knew. At one time, they were real persons who left memories to someone. Now, they’re just names carved on a grave marker, forgotten by many.
Yet not with God. Since His memory is perfect and complete, He can’t forget His saints. The psalmist put it well when he called those memories precious, valued, costly, and treasured to God. The Lord remembers all His saints and knows them personally. What else could we expect from a God with a perfect memory?
Find ways to keep the memories of your loved ones alive.
Anne Adams is a retired church staffer living in Athens, Texas, where she writes a historical column for the local newspaper. Her book Brittany, Child of Joy, tells about her mentally disabled daughter and was published in 1986 by Broadman. She has taught junior college history and has published in Christian and secular publications for forty years.