That Easy to Forget
My grandmother loved music. She could play piano and the organ beautifully, and by ear — one of those gifts that you cannot fake and one that, unfortunately, I did not inherit. On Sundays, she would stack her LP’s on her stereo, and they serenaded as she made her supper. I can still hear them playing — The Mills Brothers, Patsy Cline, Tony Bennett, Englebert Humperdink… Soulful, warm, endearing… These are the sounds of my childhood.
One song came back to me wistfully not long ago. It was Englebert singing “Am I That Easy to Forget?” Oh boy. This was a soundtrack that, at eight, I would never have thought one day would wreck me as it did. It’s odd how sentimental we become and how time and space collide into the perfect storm.
It’s surreal.
It’s not news to say that we are living in a time unlike any we have ever known. How can we set music to this feeling that the whole darn world is spinning out of control? Maybe Patsy would have a ditty or two about walking the floors or falling to pieces, and that would fit. But truly — when have we ever thought our lives would be so interrupted by something we cannot see? The world, the media, the fear… It’s gone mad.
I was trying to put my arms around these feelings, trying to adjust my perspective, trying to give myself a good talking to… I mean, sure things are strange and somewhat foreboding, but that doesn’t mean this is permanent. I made an inventory of what I knew, what I needed, what I would need to do to take care of my responsibilities, my work, my loved ones. I could come up with no good reason to panic. And yet, the uncertainty wallowed within me.
Then, it hit me. I hadn’t prayed about any of this stuff. I had reacted, dutifully hunkered down, checked on everyone… And there was God in the background. “Am I that easy to forget?”
I wonder if you might be off base too, spinning, trying to understand what the fuss is all about? All we can do is all we can do. We can follow the rules. We can distance ourselves, not overreact, not hoard. We can stay vigilant. We can do everything right. But if our spirits are out of whack, if we haven’t talked to God about any of this, we’re not prepared for anything, really. Spiritually, we aren’t protected.
“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.” Proverbs 21:31
God doesn’t want us to forget Him in any of our trails or in the smallest of details. With Him as our covering, we can go though the battle and be assured that we will come out okay on the other side. He takes away our fear. He causes us to think with reason and forbearance and to walk in confidence that He’s got this all figured out.
What I came to recall about those Sunday afternoons, my grandmother’s music playing in the background, the emotional spectrum of which I could not possibly understand until later in life, was that God had me then as I know He has me now. He knew that one day I would question life — that I would wonder about love and heartache and healing and crazy virus’s that would ransack and impede the way we live. He knew what was coming and what the antidote for all of this would be.
He knew that He could tuck the music, His voice, His promises, deep inside my spirit to pull on when things get harried and misaligned and hard. We may treat Him as though He is easy to forget sometimes. We get caught up in the whirlwind of surviving and doing all that we are supposed to do. But He never ever forgets us.
We’re always on His mind.
Fear not, my friend. Keep your heart open and your head steady. Remember what is most important, and everything will be okay. No matter what your busyness causes you to do — don’t forget that He is with you. He’s soothing you in the cadence of your faith, serenading you, inviting you to rest in Him.
I pray for you and your families, that you are safe, sane, secure…
God has us all.