The Upside of Forgetfulness

Well, here it is... the end of another school year. In a couple of weeks most of you will be celebrating summer break and my guess is, school will be the last thing on your mind. I’ve always wondered how teachers view this time of the year. On one hand, I bet they’re as excited as you are for a break. But on the other hand, I have to believe that somewhere, deep down inside, they’re a bit upset. I wonder if they ever think that all of those lessons they taught, everything you learned that school year, will all be forgotten during summer break. Come September, when asked what you learned last year, what will your response be? “Hmmm, ummm, I forgot.”

We tend to think that forgetting is a negative thing... and sure, sometimes it is. But what if, just for a moment, we looked at it as a positive thing? Is there an upside to forgetfulness? We live in world where being remembered is important. Why do we post pictures on Instagram or videos on YouTube? Why do we update our statuses on Facebook or compose tweets on Twitter? Why? Because we want other people to know about us... and in the same way, we don’t want them to forget about us. But every now and then we do something that we wish people would forget. And when they don’t, when they remember exactly what was done, we end up carrying that around; unable to let go of it either.

There’s this story about a Catholic priest who was upset because a woman in his parish claimed to have daily conversations with Jesus. Soon she had her own following of people around her, and every day they surrounded her house, got on their knees, prayed and sang hymns, hoping to hear Jesus’ voice too. The priest thought this was getting out of hand, so he went to visit the woman. He told her that while he knew she thought she was having conversations with Jesus, he was convinced it was all part of her imagination. To prove his point he said, “If Jesus is right here in this room with you now, and you can talk to him, and he can talk to you, then ask him to name the three sins I confessed this morning in my prayers. If Jesus can answer your question and you can accurately name those sins, I might believe in what you say.” The woman sat for long a time. Then she smiled and turned to the priest and said, “I asked him, but Jesus said, ‘I forgot.’”

And there it is... there’s the upside of forgetfulness. Not only do we have a God who forgives; we have a God who forgets! How great is that? Jesus Christ takes sin away from us and forgets it was ever ours in the first place. God says, “I wipe away your sins because of who I am. And so I will forget the wrongs you have done” (Isaiah 43:25, CEV). So this summer, while you’re busy forgetting the Pythagorean Theorem, be sure to take some time to remember the God who forgives... and forgets. But be certain of this one thing: He will never forget you. Happy Summer!