I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good ol’ days.

If you’ve ever watched The Office then you might remember this one liner-turned-catchphrase from Andy Bernard in the series finale. The full statement he makes ends with ‘before you’ve left them’. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, odds are you have probably heard some version of this sentiment!

Nostalgia is a feeling many of us can relate to. It’s defined as ‘a sentimental longing or a wistful affection for the past’. If you pick up a photo album from 10, 20 years ago and flip through it, or – let’s be honest – you scroll all the way back into your earliest Instagram slides, you’ve captured a single moment from a day with a thousand other thoughts, feelings, and conversations. You’ve highlighted the very best (or most photogenic part) of that day, and preserved it as a memory. Reminiscing on happy times isn’t a bad thing, but oftentimes it can lead to distorted memories, warped emotions, and can even lead you to feeling sad or unsatisfied with your current circumstances. 

So rather than getting stuck in the past wishing to repeat a fragmented version of what was, I want to point you to a better way: a way that fills your soul and leaves you in awe of the power of God – the practice of remembrance. 

Remembrance, from a Biblical perspective, is so much more than just recalling a past event or walking down memory lane. It’s paramount to understanding God’s actions throughout Biblical history and throughout your own life history. Remembrance doesn’t just call something to mind, it opens the door to re-experiencing the power and the presence of God; remembering God’s miraculous works, remembering God’s holiness, remembering God’s faithfulness to his promises, remembering God’s power to raise you up from the ashes of dust and death. 

Remembrance is truly a mind, body, and soul experience. An experience that can fill our soul with all joy, all peace, and all hope. 

Remembrance ushers us into thanksgiving, too. As Psalm 136 shows us, remembering the works of the Lord creates a melody of thanksgiving. Let’s look at 10 verses from this Psalm: 

3 ‘Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; 4  to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; 5  to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; 6  to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; 7  to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; 8  the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; 9  the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever; 10  to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, for his steadfast love endures forever; 11  and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever; 12  with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever; 13  to him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever; 14  and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever; 15  but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever; 16  to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever;

In just these 10 verses, we see the psalmist recalling many events of the past, the trials and hardships the Israelites walked through in their slavery in Egypt, in their wandering in the wilderness, and in their arrival into the Promised Land. In the act of remembrance, the psalmist’s heart and mind is transfixed on God’s faithfulness, His deliverance, His providence, His sovereignty over forces of nature, His boundless love and compassion for his people. 

One of my favorite writers and Bible teachers is Ann Voskamp, and she describes it as the practice of remembrance as this –

‘Trust is the bridge from yesterday to tomorrow, built with planks of thanks. Remembering frames up gratitude. Gratitude lays out the planks of trust. We can walk the planks – from known to unknown, from yesterday to tomorrow – knowing that He holds us, only when we remember how He has already held us in every bridge that we’ve walked along in our life up until this point. So we can take the next step, cross the next bridge.’

Perhaps this is why the Israelites and the Psalmists kept recounting their past – to train their hearts to trust God for their future. Remembering is an act of thanksgiving. And thanksgiving is not only the memories of our own heart, it’s a memory of God’s heart. To thank Him is to remember Him. 

And then I think of what Jesus asks of His disciples in the Last Supper, of what He asks of us. One of the very last directives He gave to His disciples was to remember. Do this in remembrance of me, He said. Remembering literally re-joins our heart to God’s heart, to his purpose and plans for our life. Think of how a surgeon rejoins broken parts of our bodies back together. 

This spiritual practice is truly a discipline, and we know the Father disciplines his children because of his great love for us, his steadfast love. 

So I encourage you to make it a point, make it a daily rhythm in your life to remember, and to give thanks.