Housecleaning is more than scrubbing out the bathroom and kitchen, or even dusting and vacuuming. The real work in housecleaning is going through all those boxes of papers and photos. Looking at old photos can be a jolting experience, not just because you realize how you have changed but dredging up your memory of times past.
Sometimes you look at a photo of a time that was significant in the past – I mean, if it had not been significant, would you have taken a photo of the event? You think, gosh, I remember him or her, or the group, but the name escapes you.
Ah, memory as Nabokov wrote, what happens to our memories? How do we store them? There are the photos of times you’ll never forget: the grandchild with a face full of chocolate ice cream, or watering a garden, the parents or old friends, now gone. We usually don’t consider housecleaning as a spiritual exercise, but it can be.
Prayer for the Day
Gazing at old photos, we gather the elements of our lives,
For they bring back the grief of loss and the gift of love;
Remembering the seasons of our lives and times past,
We are grateful for the gift of memory as we touch old faces.
Heal the hurts we feel and lighten our burdens
Through the gift of laughter through the faces of those we loved.
We ask this in the name of the One who heals souls,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist.
- Guy de Maupassant, French writer (1850-1893)
I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.
Virginia Woof, British writer (1882-1941)
I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old.
I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God?
You are the God who works wonders; you display your might among the peoples.
Psalm 77: 11-14