Elephants Never Forget

Two summers ago I was washing the windows of a Bagel Beanery our on the corner of Michigan and College avenues in downtown Grand Rapids. As a professional window washer it was my duty to suds up, rinse, and squeege each and every window of what seems like eveyr small business in the the downtown area. That's not so bad when its nine inthe morning, the sun slowly rising over the horizon, shiming across the light blue sky as a light breeze floated from the west. However, once one in the afternoon hit, that was a different story. And that afternoon it was hot, hot enough the dry the fluffy soap bubbles off the blakc-tinted winodws before a towel could reach them. It was lame.

So I did my job, wiping beads of sweat off my forehead with my Fish Window Cleaning Hat (a hat I still have...oops) running a dry towel along the sill before happily tossing my bucket and belt into my open trunk. It was in that process, most unfortunately, that I tossed my keys into the truck as I slammed it down. It was that moment I realized the unfortunate consiquences of my mistake; here I am, a good 40 minutes from my nearest spare key, no way to get into my car, no shade from the beating sun, and worse of all, plenty more work to get done before the day was done. So after a couple phone calls, a mom whose benevolence goes beyond all measure, and a spare key I was back on the job in a mere hour and a half. Major bummer.

Elephants may never forget but Blake Jurgens does, a lot. Then again, who doesn't. Even the most brilliant of people are prone to the occasional brain fart. Sir Isaac Newton had an infamous moment where he absent-mindedly shoved his niece's finger into a pipe, then taking a good hour to grease it out. Motzart often dazed off when carving meat at dinner, and after seriously cutting his finger tips multiple times finally allowed his wife to have the honors. Albert Einstein, arguably the greatest mind of this century, was known for his inability to add his grocery bill or do such simple tasks as shut the front door or pay the electric bill. President William Howard Taft had a humorous moment when his judgement failed to realize that his 300+ pound frame would not fit the diminuative White House bathtub and President Reagan towards the end of his term often would leave important documents around his office only to loose them. Speaking of presidents, Joe Biden's mind went on blank during the election when he allegedly asked a war veterin to stand up for an applause; a war veterin who happened to be paralized from the chest down. And of cource we cannot forget the pre-Socratic philosopher Thales who was most known for an incident where the monist, in the midst of contemplating the skies, failed to notice the well which he promptly fell into.

As for animals, goldfish are said to have memories of five seconds (and you thought your memory was bad!) On the other hand, squids (who happen to be my favorite animal) have th mental capabilites to change their pigmented cells to a vast array of colours to reflect their mood and even can flash different patterns and shades on different sides of their mantle. Chimps are able to learn to the level of a three year old child and who hasn't had a dog whose seemed almost human? (Could Henrik the hedgehog be that smart?).

Then there's elephants. I've already written about their memories (check my facebook note) and their ability to remember each other's faces and sounds, even after years apart. Its reasons like this that must be the reason why it's been said that elephants never forget (unless you've seen the Jungle Book).

But what about us? I forget; a lot. I've locked keys in my truck, left books on my shelf, left homework on the kitchen table, lost my car in a mall parking lot, and have had thousands of names and numbers go in one ear and out the other faster than Darren Helm on a breakaway. For how many statistics and stories I could ever remember, three others have faded into oblivion. No matter how smart or wise one could ever be, there will always be moments of brain farts, even for the most brilliant of geniuses.

I forget. Most often I forget the simplest things, where I left my keys, where I left my wallet, where i left my -fill-in-the-blank- but often its the important simple things that pass me by. How often does one hear John 3:16 (for God so loved the world...) and live a life opposing such? How often does one speak of conforming to their Lord and Savior only to place individuality over everything else? How often does one plead their alligance to Christ by word only to minutes later pledge it to some other god of this world in the next?

By one, I mean me. Yeah, me.

So, elephants never forget. But I do, a lot. Bonhoffer lived by the fact that our identity, our origin, is in Christ, and to forget that is to forget who we are, leaving us disunioned from everything that makes us who we are. In 7 days I leave for South Carolina, and my prayer is this;

Lord, may this restless heart find place in you
may it never so forget
the sacrifice that you went through
so I may live again

Amen to that.

Go Wings