Nothing But a Memory
There’s a country song that tells the story of someone visiting their childhood home, reliving the memories of what happened there and promising to take nothing but a memory from the house that built them. The bridge and final chorus go like this: “You leave home, you move on / And you do the best you can / I got lost in this whole world / And forgot who I am / I thought if I could touch this place or feel it / This brokenness inside me might start healing / Out here, it’s like I’m someone else / I thought that maybe I could find myself / If I could walk around, I swear I’ll leave / Won’t take nothin’ but a memory / From the house that built me.” What is it that creates this urge to visit the past? A month or so ago I was in Michigan for some meetings. My family lived in three different houses around Berrien Springs when I was young and I just had to drive by each one while I was there. There’s something about visiting a place where you grew and developed that grounds you and reminds you who you are.
C. S. Lewis once wrote: “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” We may not have been anywhere other than on this planet and in this time, but this isn’t where we’re from or where we belong. You go far enough back in history, you discover that our origins are in a garden on a perfect planet that had never seen death or sorrow or pain, created by God to live forever in perfect joy. And if you look far enough into the future, you see that garden restored. If you, like the song writer, find yourself lost in this world, forgetting who you are; take a trip back home. I’m not talking about the place where you grew up but rather the place you’re from. Spend some time in the Bible reading about that garden. You’ll discover descriptions such as these: “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, ‘Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever’” (Revelation 21:3, 4). I’m so thankful that someday soon we’ll be able to return home! And this time we won’t have to leave with just a memory - we will live there for the rest of eternity. Aren’t you looking forward to that day?
