Psalm 84:5-6 (ASV) "Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee: in whose heart are the highways to Zion. Passing through the valley of weeping they make it a place of springs: yea, the early rain coverth it with blessings".
Psalm 23: 2-3 (ASV) "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul: He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake".
I recall as a child the sheer pleasure of a trip to the attic on a rainy day. There I could pass away the hours looking through old trunks packed with clothes from a by-gone era or look through musty old scrapbooks at pictures of relatives long deceased.
It was a pleasant way to spend a dreary day.
As I left childhood behind, I discovered another attic, where on blue, dreary days, I could pass the time away—the attic of my mind with its storehouse of memories.
As a child the scrapbooks had taken me on mental trips into the past. Now, I found pictures stored in the memory cells of my mind that lightened my life, lifting me when I was sad, strengthening me when I needed strength and nourishing me when I needed love. These gems hidden in my mind illuminated my darkness and made life brighter when adverse circumstances were present.
Many mornings getting out of bed requires all the strength I can muster, as the darkness within me refuses to admit light into my soul. It is then I have the need to call distant music recorded in my memory cells into play. I focus my mind on other mornings when sunlight streamed through the windows of my soul, the birds were singing, footsteps of loved ones echoed down the corridors and soon I can see through the mist and rain of the darkness.
Beautiful is the play of colors as the light ripples across the darkness. Memories spring forth from many hidden areas. I remember summer mornings on the beach when the sun rose out of the ocean and fishermen reeled in their early morning catch for the day’s menus. I recall the early sunrise at a swampy campground when the raccoons woke us with their gentle plunder. Further back in memory I recall the Bob White Quail feeding in the early morning on the edge of the fields when the dew hung heavy on the grass. Each drop of dew is sparkling in the early sunlight like diamonds. At the edge of the cornrows in the newly ploughed fields, the crows leave their tracks in the moist brown soil.
By then my darkness is dispelled, new energy is flowing into my brain cells and I feel like facing the day, knowing that as life has been good in the past, so will it be fruitful again.
Often during the busy day, tensions build up. The mad rush to meet a deadline; four telephones all ringing at once, business associates who can not be satisfied; create pressures that build up until it seems the mind will explode.
It is now time for the “memory break” as recess is taken briefly to relax the mind and call forth gems from the storehouse. Somewhere, on the outer perimeter of registered thought there appears a vision of a quiet wooded area, a tiny stream meanders through the woods and either side is bordered by wild flowers and marshy type vegetation. A small child sits on a wooden bridge, dangling a fishing pole. Soon the mind focuses on the spot where the fishing line makes contact with the dark blue waters. There the bright orange cork lies quietly on the water while the mind concentrates hard---Will the cork bobble or remain still? In the intense concentration the mind is momentarily stilled, the body relaxes and I am refreshed.
We need these “memory breaks” or “flashbacks” to bring “healing” to the tired mind. Our gems stored in the attic may contain the light needed to brighten a dark day and strength to refresh a tired mind.
© Ivie Bozeman
