THE POWER OF MEMORY

Proverbs 10.7
THE POWER OF MEMORY
"The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot." (10.7)

EVERY PERSON HAS A NAME. IT IS HIS most personal possession. It is also the most valuable. "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold" (22.1). The preservation of our good name is spoken of in the same terms as the possession of wisdom (8.10-11); both are equally precious.

Our name is our character and our reputation. Of course, the former should concern us more than the latter. In fact, there are times when reputation must be sacrificed when character is at stake. What God thinks of us is more important than what the world thinks of us. Yet, whenever possible, our desire should be of "a good name in the sight of God and man" (3.4). We should seek to keep our names clean and honorable.

This is all the more so when we remember that our names live on after us. After we have graduated from school, or worked at an office, or lived in a locality, and moved on, how will people remember us? Many desire their names to be remembered. Indeed, they will be. The question is how. Will the memory of our names be a blessing or a curse?

Solomon here contrasts the memory of the righteous with that of the wicked. He is speaking of them after they have passed from this world. Both the good and the wicked die, but one leaves behind a fragrance and the other a stench. Only time will tell: from the hindsight of history, we see things more clearly. Someone once said of the powerful ruler of a vast empire condemning a prisoner in chains, "One day, men will call their sons 'Paul', and their dogs 'Nero'."

"He who has gone... abides with us, more potent, nay more present, then the living man," says Saint-Exupery. Is not this the reason why Scriptures constantly call us to remember the great men and women of the past? What is true of Abel is true of all: "And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead" (Heb 1 1.4).

It is said that our world today lives for the future. Certainly, we live for tomorrow, but not without studying how those in the past survived their future. Saints who have gone to their rest still challenge us through their writings and exploits as they did the people of their day. We would be foolish to forget heroes such as Augustine, his mother Monica, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley, Sadhu Sundar Singh and John Sung. The memory of them is a benediction, if we only get to know them.

How will people remember me?