By Yay Padua-Olmedo
How’s your RQ (remembering quotient) ?
If you’re a gorgeous senior like me trying to salvage whatever’s left of your youth by taking health supplements, you sometimes find yourself asking: “Did I take them or didn’t I? Or was it yesterday that I did that?”
Then, ding, ding, ding; after a lot of digging and shoveling down memory pit, you remember, “Yes, I did take my vitamins, just after breakfast!”
Experts say our brain’s hippocampus (part of the brain’s limbic system which also triggers our emotional responses) processes bits of information from short to long-term memory.
“By the time people reach their 80s, they may have lost as much as 20 percent of the nerve connections in the hippocampus,” says psychologist Kendra Cherry (psychology.about.com).
OMG! Oh my goodness! What was that again?
That’s why I always pray, Lord, renew my mind and my brain cells.”
Nature is our health cabinet. For example, nutrition specialists say that turmeric, a powerful anti-inflammatory and memory booster, boosts brain power. When God said “It’s finished!” after He created the universe, he indeed provided everything we needed to live healthy and content.
But what should we really remember more than our daily vitamins? Our times with loved ones. Our victories. Even our tribulations, for their lessons―because those were when God intervened, healed, provided, kept us safe. Even our daily teeny-weeny blessings. All “Thank you, Lord!”moments.
Many books in the bible recall God’s amazing miracles for the Israelites especially as they journeyed through the wilderness.
God it seems is in the habit of reminding us, “I’ve carried, protected and provided for you! Why do you still insist in doing things your way?”
Joshua 24:12-13―”And I sent terror ahead of you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. It was not your swords or bows that brought you victory. I gave you land you had not worked on, and I gave you towns you did not build—the towns where you are now living. I gave you vineyards and olive groves for food, though you did not plant them.”
Remembering His deeds refreshes us with a flood of God’s love and grace to go on in spite of problems:
“You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy,” the Father told Jesus as He was being baptized and the Spirit descended on Him. Even Jesus needed to be reminded of that prior to the cross which bridged us back into the Father’s embrace.
So must we remember, daily, so that “we would not abandon the Lord and serve other gods” (Joshua 24:16). Remember, He is great and mighty, yet loving and gracious.
That’s why Joshua exhorted, “… Choose today whom you will serve… But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD almighty” (Joshua 24:15). “So fear the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped” (verse14).
Oh Lord, help us to not forget your great love.