Reminders, Memorials, and Journals

How soon we forget.

Our limited capacity for remembering things is astonishing. You walk into a room two seconds after getting up and suddenly have no idea why you entered that room. Someone asks you about a thing that occurred weeks, months, or even years ago and you respond, “I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast this morning.”

When it comes to important things, we set reminders. For the really impactful things (good or bad), we have memorials, monuments, and days of remembrance. Even this past weekend, we stopped to remember those who gave their lives for our country.

In Joshua, chapter four, the Israelites crossed the Jordan River on dry ground—a fitting end to their wandering, reflective of their journey’s beginning at the Red Sea. They made an alter of twelve stones from that river (one for each tribe) to serve as a reminder for generations to come of what God did.

I’ve found the journals I use for Bible Study to be a similar kind of alter; a touchstone to look back and remember all that God has shown me or accomplished in my life. Without writing any of it down, I would forget—no question!

I encourage you to pick-up a Flectio Journal and begin crafting your own “alter of witness” (see Josh. 22:26–27), to serve as a reminder for “future you” and those who come after of God’s faithfulness, steadfast love, and inexplicable power.