For Wilshire Baptist Church
Memory is not neutral or static. It can be a tool for good by reminding us who we are, where we’ve been, what we’ve done, what we’ve endured and what we’ve learned. It can help us stay on the good roads and not go back down the bad roads. Memory can also be a burden, reminding us of our mistakes and failures. It can keep us frozen with fear and self-loathing.
It’s a topic singer-songwriter John Prine covered simply and yet deeply in “I Remember Everything,” a song I had never heard until attending Wilshire’s first-ever Songwriter Vespers on a recent Sunday evening. I won’t peel back all the layers of that song here, but as one who likes words, I’m intrigued by how the first verse seems to encompass the depth and breadth of memory:
Continue reading “Memories and Benedictions”