Last week while examining a bag of organic grapes at Whole Foods, I heard someone call out my name. It was a woman I hadn’t seen in years – a blast from the past! We had attended the same church together in the 70’s, along with our young families. Now after laying eyes on her again, warm fuzzies of praying together bubbled up to the surface.

I hugged her, and with our embrace poured memories of peace and joy back into my ready heart.  But it was the emotion only part of our relationship that flooded in. Nothing of the actual doings of our time together presented itself except for the praying. We didn’t spend much time reminiscing standing there by the grapes, nor did we promise the usual cliché to get together again. It was enough to just remember, if only for a time, the buried treasured memory we’d made together in our hearts so long ago.

And isn’t that the best part of a memory? The heart part? I have accumulated many wonderful memories over the years with loved ones and friends, but it’s the how I felt when with them, that is the memorable part of these memories (especially since I don’t always remember where we were or what we were doing). Like the faint glimpse of praying with my friend, I don’t remember what we were fervently praying about. Only the fondness and love for her has remained.

This gives me a better understanding and encouragement of why in Matthew it says, ” … but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys …. ” Unlike the memories of possessions or things, we can take God’s joy and peace with us, they are incorruptible and never end.

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,” says the Apostle Paul to the saints at Phillipi. As with this woman from long ago, I thank my God upon every remembrance of her. These are the memories that will pass the moth and rust test and the ones we take with us into eternity. When we greet the One who made us, the great memory maker.