“An act of remembrance”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, July 18, 2024
Joshua 3:14 – 4:7 (Forward, p. 81) CEV p. 211
How readily or quickly people forget. That is why we erect monuments and cenotaphs—so that people will remember. And that is why taking down monuments or statues that speak of the not so ‘nice’ episodes of our history may not be a good idea, especially if doing so allows people to forget. Maybe a better thing would be to adapt them by adding some words of context and explanation. Surely, we would want to remember those negative episodes from our past and learn from them. Anyway, perhaps this is overly political, but it is my opinion.
In today’s passage we are also hearing of a kind of monument, but this one has to do with a positive episode, one from Israel’s history. It is about how God stopped the waters of the River Jordan to allow the Israelites to cross dry shod to the other side.
In our present-day faith communities, we don’t have so many tangible, physical reminders, but we do have plenteous reminders of other sorts. For the Jewish people, the Passover Seder and the festivals are reminders, and for us, as Christians so too are the Eucharist and the events of the church year. They remind us of God’s doings in our midst—lest we forget. And in Israel’s care, God considered it so important that He had the people of Israel go to considerable lengths to construct it. Maybe He feels the same way about us, and our memorials.
Forward notes: “The priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan” (verse 17).
“The drama of walking through the Red Sea in the Exodus is a pivotal moment in the liberation of God’s people. So, I often don’t think very much about God allowing his people to walk through a waterway on dry land more than once. Then again, I have a list of favorite places to see spring wildflowers every year, and I hustle to visit each as many times as possible. The chirps of the tiny spring peeper frogs in vernal pools greet me as I watch the bluets, bluebells, skunk cabbage, Dutchman’s breeches, and trout lily grow. But my favorite of all is the trillium. I am often so excited that I cry when I see my first one of the year! And when they spread up and across high, rocky hillsides, I cannot believe I get to live in a world where God has heaped up waves of such breathtakingly extravagant beauty.”
Moving Forward: “Have you ever returned to a special place to experience the continuing love of God? Have you ever taken such an experience for granted?”