We Remember What We See
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Thursday October 4, 2007
File under: Perspectives & Pleas
My brother Steve always jokes that I have a terrible memory. Quite often when he hears me give a sermon illustration using a childhood memory, he’ll call or write to give me the historically correct version of the event I was describing. I’ll be the first to admit that his memory is far better than mine. He actually remembers the sounds and smells of the airport the day we landed in the United States for the first time!
It may be true that my memories are not always historically accurate. They may only be my subjective version of what happened and not the factual truth. But it strikes me that it is my perception of what happened and not just the events themselves that shape who I am. Even if the actual facts may be lost to me forever, my version of history stays with me, becomes my autobiographical reality, and continues to exert its influence over my life.
It may be cliché to say it today, but attitude matters. All memories—in fact, all history—is arguably subjective. Historical events pass through a filter of selective retention and we remember what we want and how we saw it. We like to say that the events of our lives shape who we are. I would argue that it is our attitudes about those events that shape who we are.
Our attitudes even shape our memories. A family could experience financial ruin on a single terrible day, and one sibling will recall it as the day that they lost all hope in the future while another will remember it as the day she realized how much she’d taken her blessings for granted. Two siblings who live through the same historical event approach it with different attitudes and emerge with radically different memories.
How has your attitude shaped the memories you hold onto? How historically accurate are your memories? What difference would it make today if you realized the shaping power of attitude?
Addendum - 10.05.07
I was recently reading a friend's blog and he had this quote that I thought really spoke to this present post: "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." -- Anais Nin
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