All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord.
—Psalm 22.27
From a lectionary reading for Lent 2: Psalm 22.23-31
Reflection for Wednesday, February 29 (Day 7 of Lent)
I once met a woman who works with a group designed for people whose memories have become damaged. Living with Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injuries, or other conditions that have eroded their ability to remember, these people gather together to help one another navigate a once-familiar path now made strange and often fearsome by the holes and fissures that have opened up. At the heart of this woman’s work lay the questions: Who are we if we cannot remember? How do we help others know who they are by holding their memories for them, and finding ways to help them know their lives?
I was fascinated to hear this woman talk about the group and the tools she invites them to use in their work together. Art, photographs, conversation, writing: each word, each image becomes a tangible piece to hold onto. These pieces cannot fill all the holes, cannot mend all the gaps in the individual memories of the group members. But together, the work of the group helps make a larger kind of memory possible—a memory that does not reside entirely in the individual but can be glimpsed in the pieces created and shared with the group members, with friends, with family, with those who help them know who they are.
Who are we if we cannot remember? As the people of God, what have we forgotten, and what knowing—of God, of ourselves—have we lost as a result? Psalm 22 tells us that we are held within a larger memory that extends across time and encompasses all creation. All the ends of the earth shall remember, the psalmist writes, and turn to the Lord. In this time, how will we tell the story of who and whose we are? In words, in images, how will we reclaim the pieces of memory and hold them for and with one another, and so become whole?
This reflection is part of the series “Teach Me Your Paths: A Pilgrimage into Lent.” If you’re new to the series, welcome! You can visit the first post, Teach Me Your Paths: Entering Lent, to pick it up from the beginning.
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February 29, 2012 at 11:49 AM |
What a lovely take on this Psalm. We just did some portraits and self portraits together in my group and it was amazing how meaningful it was to experience being seen and to see one another, another way of knowing you are remembered.