Many times in the last few years, I've noticed, when I'm reminded of something from the past, whether visually or just mentally, the Scripture from Psalm 103 just springs out of my mouth - sometimes as a whisper, sometimes as a shout, sometimes simply as a thought: "...
and the place thereof shall know it no more."
This happens,for example, when I drive past the condo where my parents lived in their last years. Whoever may live there now of course has no idea of all that may have transpired there over the 14+ years that my parents lived there together. Life goes on...moves ahead relentlessly as it picks up momentum with each passing year. Who knows what happened where I now walk and live and work and play?
It's interesting that these thoughts come to the surface frequently now, thoughts I rarely entertained before. Could it be that witnessing the departures of my parents and so recently, my sister Erica, plus the fact that I'm chugging right along adding another birthday every year,has something to do with this?
In Psalm 103, the Psalmist - King David in this case - reviews the blessings God lavishes on those who follow His ways, citing the gracious, loving, merciful and forgiving nature of God. And yet...
"As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place therof shall know it no more. (But then... )But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; to such a keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them." vs 15-18 KJV And so it is.
Scrolling through some of my photos I reviewed our trip to southern Manitoba a year ago. We visited the two major places where I spent the first sixteen years of my life before my family moved to British Columbia.
This is a picture, taken last year, of the house in which I spent my first six years. The print I have in my family album shows a beautiful house. I remember it as being yellow in color. My mother, who by this time already had five young daughters had done all the painting herself. The house had green leafy vines creeping up this southern-facing wall. My Dad told me years ago that they had bought this 40-acre farm for $1,800. Until I was born my parents with my two older sisters had lived nearby in a tiny house on a 10-acre parcel of land. Dad had bought that place in 1937 for $25, cash plus he gave his 1928 Whippet Super 6, valued at $150, in trade..."
and the place thereof..."
Both my parents arrived in southern Manitoba as children, with their families, after fleeing Russia on the heels of the Revolution in 1923. My paternal grandparents are buried in the tiny village of Gnadenthal where we visited the cemetery. I was intrigued today as I checked the Scripture passages chosen for each marker. Although the inscriptions are in German, my first language, here is how my Grandmother's reads in English:
...
that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. Philippians 3:9 NIV. I am blessed!
Another beautiful surprise and blessing was the realization that engraved on my Grandfather's marker, was the Scripture reference from John 11:25 KJV:
Jesus said unto her,I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live... Now this is the identical inscription that can be found on my parents markers which we placed at their burial site so many years later. My mother quoted that verse a lot...
and the place thereof...Just before the Christmas of 1949 my parents moved us into a beautiful brand new 4-bedroom house. It was a perfect place it seemed - close to school, close to church and close to the small downtown area -everything within walking distance in our little town. We sisters all think of these ten years as "Golden Years". Here is what the house looked like last year at this time - a few changes,otherwise very recognizable...
and the place thereof...
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