Snapping Out Sad Memories

Home coming for Christmas is a great joy to many, yet to some, it may be a chore, a yearly routine of time wasted in meaningless discussion, or a gathering of memories of things past, of good and bad, happy and sad, pleasant and unpleasant all mingled together.

Memories of unpleasant past tend to linger on in our minds long after the event has taken place, and if we fail to snap out such bitter memories, they can affect how we live our daily lives. Whether it be the lost of someone we love, the prolong caring for someone disabled, a broken trust, or a failed relationship, all these memories of painful times can haunt us if we do not handle them properly.

Let us take a few moments to examine ourselves. When we reflect upon our past, do we harbor bitterness or unhappiness within us? Do we still question God as to why it had happened? If the answer is yes, then it means we need help, because harboring unhappiness in our minds and hearts is not good, and the way we handle unhappy memories will determine how our lives become in the future, of joy or sorrow, of victory or defeat.

A good example of how we should handle unhappy memories is to follow Joseph, the son of Jacob. Instead of blaming God for all the unhappy things that happened in his life, Joseph chose to see circumstances as God's way of leading him to the right path in fulfilling God's plan for his life. This may be seen from the way Joseph revealed himself to his brothers while in Egypt.

"Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. (Genesis 45:5 NAS)

Joseph, in forgiving his brothers for selling him into slavery, did not blame them for what they had done, because he knew it was part of God's plan to lead him to where he was to preserve the lives of many.

If we, like Joseph, can see our lives the way he sees his, we will be able to understand that circumstances in life are one of God's ways in molding His chosen people for His purpose. Understanding this, is the first step to realizing God’s guiding hands on our lives, and this should help us learn to let go memories of our painful past, to let it be just memories, without the pain. We will not question God as to why certain things happen the way it happened, but we will be assured that whatever had happened or will happen is part of God's plan for our lives. Once we understand this and follow how Joseph handles unpleasant memories in his life, we will then be able to put in perspective how we should view our unhappy past, and move forward to live our lives abundantly, according to the will of God.

In seeing God as playing a part in the circumstances of our lives, we should therefore, like Joseph, view events in our lives as God's way of teaching and molding us for His work, in leading us to the paths He wants us to go, to fulfill His purpose for our lives. Knowing this should help us view circumstances from the correct perspective and begin the process of healing within our hearts and minds in snapping out bitterness from our memories.

Forgive us, O Lord, for harboring bitter memories of our past and for continuing to question You as to why unhappy events happened in our lives. Teach us Lord to see those events as part of our training for your service, and direct us in the right path to fulfill Your will for our lives, to learn to be like Joseph, to see circumstances as a way of Your leading, and snap out all bitterness from the memories of our unpleasant past.

Memories

Memories are things we cannot hide
The things we sometimes hope to forget
Yet there are things we hope we'll always remember
Or our achievements and our past will be gone forever
For if our identity is erased without a trace
It will be hard to live by the mercies of God's grace

Without memories
We will not know
What we have lost
Or what we have gained
To appreciate the things in life
That keeps us alive
To know what is worth
And what is not worth keeping
To give more than receive
To do good things
To live and appreciate
The things we have
The nature and the air
The beauty of God's creation everywhere
The water we drink
The air we breathe
The things we take for granted
And assumed always there

O God bless our memories
To remember the good
To learn from the bad
To move on to live our lives
To the fullest we know how
In ways guided by Your Spirit
In faith and love
In fruitfulness and charity
To do the right things
To bring good memories

Fond Memories of the National Library

A chapter of Singapore history ended when the National Library at Stamford closes recently.

The National Library building at Stamford Road which celebrated its groundbreaking in 1957 and officially opened for service in 1960 has now moved on to the next chapter in acquiring a new spot at Victoria Street that boasts state-of-the-art facilities and information hub to serve a wide area of services to its publics.

In commemorating the end of a chapter, the National Library Board (NLB) has invited the Singapore public with fond memories of the place to submit their reminiscences in the form of short write-up, photography, drawing or cartoon. The outcome of these submissions is a coffee table book entitled, Moments in Time: Memories of the National Library, which will be launched on December 9, 2004 at the library in Esplanade. It is therefore my privilege to be invited for the book launch and for the opportunity to contribute one of the many articles in the book.

The National Library building at Stamford holds a very important place in my heart because it was there that I first found my love in writing, as a result of organised group meetings introduced by the library under the flagship of the Young Writers’ Circle. These meetings are held regularly on a monthly basis for the purpose of promoting local literature writing in prose, poem, freelance, and short stories. It is therefore with heart-felt sadness that I bid farewell to the many fond memories of this building as it vanish into yet another chapter in the Singapore history.