Self Talk Soul Talk, Week 8

Lelia, at Write From the Heart has a wonderful and humorous post about how she is thankful for hosting our online study of the book, Self Talk, Soul Talk, by Jennifer Rothschild. Click on the name of her blog or the book in the sidebar to get to her site, and the other posts on Mr. Linky.

Chapter 8 is called, "Look Back: Forget Not His Benefits, O My Soul. The quotes from the book will be black. The first passage I underlined this week was, "Remembering is essential to the health of our souls. So we must tell our souls to look back often." Jennifer explained that both pleasant and painful memories can be good to look back on to assign meaning in our lives, understanding how we can profit, or learn from what happened in our past. "Memories can be profitable because they prevent us from repeating mistakes. They guard us against needless worry, and serve as a grounding force in our lives."

Jennifer went on to say that as we remember the events of our lives, we should prompt ourselves to, "forget not"what God has done for us. She said to give ourselves time to do this. "Look around. Take time to observe what lies just beyond the surface of your circumstances. You'll see evidence of the goodness and benefits of God. It feels good, doesn't it?" Jennifer did say, though, that she is speaking of memories that we can handle.

My son and grandson just came over for awhile, because they came back for something they forgot yesterday. I have lost my train of thought, and it's almost time for bed.  Let me see if I can gather some thoughts.

Like many people, I have some memories I do not like to go back to. I was bullied as a child, and even as an adult, have been treated unfairly. I have done things that I regret, and have done things that hurt others. I have been overly sensitive, and defensive. I have had good friends who either died or moved far away. I have had spells of being anxious and depressed. Even so, in looking back, I can see that God has worked all things for my good.  

I also have memories of good things. My current job is the favorite of all I've had, and without some of the things that were difficult to get through, I wouldn't have it. I had a good time being a stay at home mom until my daughter went to first grade. Our grandson just "hugged" the dogs pictured on our door mat. His sweetness is a wonderful recent memory.  

"Remembering allows your experiences to grant you far more than a fleeting moment of pleasure or pain. Join me in telling your soul to 'look back.' When you do, you gaze into a thought closet that has been fully stocked with profitable truth worth remembering."