I’m looking at beautiful goldfish in a garden pond. Some are completely motionless, others seem to be dancing with the sunbeams that break into the water. They look quite content and at home. There’s plenty to do it seems. I think of the goldfish I had as a child. I won it in a competition and had to find ways of ‘storing’ it until I got a proper goldfish bowl. Every day the poor creature looked out of the glass distracted by an odd visit skyward to feed off the seed like mixture that we called ‘fish-food’. Compared to these creatures in the pond it’s life was hellish!
Any talk of cruelty was eased by the understanding that the goldfish had a short memory, so they basically forget the limits of the environment within which they are expected to thrive. In people, loss of memory can cause anxiety and confusion that can be lived out in many strange ways: anger, despair and chaos. You see, remembering is not just about recall – it’s about making things present. When you cannot make present the things that are important, even in your mind, life can begin to fall apart.
The aboriginal people use song and ritual to make the spirit of their ancestors present among them. This ‘remembering’ holds the people and the community together. They don’t see groups as groups of individuals but as a communal collection who are bound to hold a story and memory in place. If the story goes – so do the people. Story therefore is not just about recall or ‘having a laugh’ it’s about making deeper things present.
Sundays in churches are not just about recalling a historical event that took place two thousand years ago. They are about allowing this event to be as present today as it was then so we can live differently and live well. If we forget this story or fail to remember due to neglect or being too busy with other things, then this can cause anxiety and confusion that can be lived out in many strange ways with the accompanying anger, despair and chaos individually and communally that comes with memory loss.
When we suffer from amnesia, every form of serious authority for faith is in question, and we live unauthorised lives of faith and practice unauthorised ministries. – Walter Brueggemann