‘I have a memory like a … what do you call it? That thing in the kitchen you use to sift the stuff you want from the stuff you don’t. A sieve! That’s it. I have a memory like a sieve.’
I appreciate this short article from Tim Challies, reflecting on the mixed bag of being a man of short memory – something I deeply identified with this morning, even as I tried to remember the name of someone I spoke to on Sunday past.
One context he mentions is note-taking during sermons. I have a small library of Field Notes pocket notebooks stretching back many years at this point, which I carry most days and continually write down things. As I explained to someone over the weekend, sometimes it is for reference, but often I find it is primarily the act of writing something down which aids my own recall. (Hence, my weekly sermon notes very often also have a list of names scribbled at the bottom!)
Analogously, I glance across at the second monitor where my Apple Notes app lies open. There, I have made notes – some short, some copious – on 506 books, chapters or articles over the last five terms of study at UTC. Last term, I began making notes on one book which it turned out I had already skim-read two years’ prior. At such times, I despair a little because it feels like I took so little in!
However, Challies offers great comfort that it is the edification in the moment which has as great an impact on the heart and character, as any ability to recall:
‘[Jonathan] Edwards countered, ‘The main benefit that is obtained by preaching is by impression made upon the mind in the time of it, and not by the effect that arises afterwards by a remembrance of what was delivered.’”
I’m convinced that what is true of sermons is true of life. And for that reason, I can rest assured that my satisfaction and sanctification are unaffected by my memory. I have been blessed, strengthened, edified, and encouraged, even when I don’t exactly remember how.’