I will remember the works of the Lord. -- Psalm 77.11
Would it qualify as remembering if I look forward in time realizing that God is, and has been, already there even when God is also in this now of mine? I do remember what God has done and is doing. From scattering the infinity of star dust across the skies before Abraham to the tap-tap-tap of Martin Luther's hammer on the door of Wittenburg. From weeping for the Syrian refugee to leading with a strong hand the advocate for the helpless. When I pass through a cemetery, pausing to catch a name on the memorial marker, I remember the Spirit's presence that actively was part of that person's life, and is still carrying that person forward.
The now is a fleeting bridge of past and future, and is illustrated by the cross. The cross stands as a constant now -- the forces of death on the horizontal earthly plane with the vertical other-worldly plane reaching into the widening expanse of the universe. Even the gesture of crossing myself, ending with my hand over my heart, I remember that I am at that junction point between the past and the future.
Our heart's now-time, as long as it beats time, is the reminder of the Lord's works. How do we we bridge the past and future but by our testimonies of God's past faithfulness in our lives and in the acts we will perform to create, and even alter the the coming Realm of God? Within our beating heart, the Realm of God gestates. Each act we do in remembrance of God's grace and our belonging, we grow the Realm's incarnation around us.
Can we glimpse forward and remember what God is in the future to do? To lure us in that prevenient way grace has of bringing us toward the eternity to which we strive - an eternity surer, more stable, hope-filled, and true.
