Memorial

Today is the year anniversary of the day my mom took her first breath in heaven. Though I think of her every day, I wanted to do something special as a memorial on this significant day. I wished I could leave a bouquet of daisies, her favorite flower, on her grave, but I live 800 miles away from it.

 

What, then, to do? I wondered if a ritual of some kind could really matter anyway, since nothing could possibly be an adequate memorial to a lifetime of love, to the rest of a lifetime of deeply felt loss.

 

Somehow, though, memorial rituals do matter to those who desire them. We got the idea from God. He values memorials that call to mind things of great significance.

 

It was He who instituted the annual Passover feast to help Israel remember how He delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Years later, it was Jesus who took the Passover cup and unleavened bread, turning them into communion, the sacrament memorializing His death on the cross.

 

Behind these and other biblical memorials is the presence of God in the lives of His children. Memorials have value because of the relationship they represent—a relationship that must not be forgotten.

 

God Himself has memorials of us. Isaiah wrote that He inscribes the names of His people on the palms of His hands, inscriptions perhaps shaped like nail prints.

 

So, in today’s simple rituals, I remembered. I remembered Mom happy in the kitchen as I made a batch of the Hunza bread she used to make—unleavened bread probably not unlike the kind used at Passover. I remembered our countless conversations and time spent together cooking and baking.

 

I brought a fresh piece of the bread and some grape juice with me to my favorite park, where I took communion in the solitude of warm sunshine and the presence of Christ. I remembered that it is only because of His death and resurrection that I have the promise of seeing my mom again someday.

 

Finally, I stood on a bridge and cast a bouquet of daisies to the sparkling creek below. The daisies floated away in the reflection of a pure blue sky—in the reflection of the heavens. Today, I remembered the day of her death, but more importantly, I remembered the gift of her life and the blessing that continues to flow from it.

 

 

3 Responses to “ “Memorial”

  1. Kara says:

    What a beautiful way to remember your mother today. I'm so happy that you had that.

  2. wright2bmom says:

    Beautiful, JoJo!

  3. A Joyful Chaos says:

    Very lovely! Thanks for sharing your heartwarming day with us.

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