Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The name of the righteous is used in blessings, but the name of the wicked will rot.

• Proverbs 10:7

But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.

• 1 Thessalonians 3:6

When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.

• Job 29:24

The New Boilerplate

My wife filled a small book with “Angel” on the cover.  It was hidden with a box of crafting things.  On 18 July 2025, I thought I had posted the last of these.  But this little angel book held a prayer, followed by 71 quotes.  So, the “with a little help” series is back in business for a while.  And it will be fun for me.  She did not attribute any of the quotes.  The first, next week’s installment, is from James A. Garfield, the 20^th president of the USA.  The next one is disputed, with some thinking it originated with Teddy Roosevelt and others saying Fred Astaire.  After the prayer, these might be on the lighter side.

Her quote

“God gave us memories so that we might have roses in December.”

• J.M. Barrie

The Discussion

For those people who have a loved one with dementia, this might not be a nice topic.

For those who do not know who J.M. Barrie is, Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st baronet, wrote Peter Pan, among many plays and novels.  J.M. Barrie had a form of dwarfism, less than five feet tall.  He married an actress, Mary Ansell.  Near their home was a neighbor who had five sons, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies.  The Barries and the Llewelyn Davies became friends.  Sylvia’s husband died and not long after, Sylvia died.  By this time, the Barries had divorced, unexpectedly, and without official adoptions, J.M. Barrie and his nurse-housemaid became the guardians of the five boys.  It was the mother, Sylvia, and her unique style of parenting that inspired Barrie to write Peter Pan.  His divorce with his wife was unexpected in that his prose and poetry showed how he felt regarding loving his wife.  Articles at the time of the divorce quoted his poetry and how everyone was astonished.  The actress married again, never having children, while Barrie raised five boys, none of his own, and never remarrying.

His comment here about roses in December is a thought that our memories are a good way to brighten our day as we get older, considering these are good memories.

My mother’s mother, MauMau, had a cerebral hemorrhage.  She lost most of her memory overnight.  But true to her cheerful attitude, she retained good memories, thinking that my father was an uncle that she had admired in her youth.  The only person from the present time that she remembered was my wife.  When we visited, my wife and MauMau would sit and talk while I played with the children outdoors.  Even knowing my wife, MauMau had no connection between her and me and the children.

I have heard several discussions among pastors regarding whether we will have memories of this life in Heaven.  It seemed to be accepted that we would remember our gratitude toward God, but we probably would not remember the sin in that sin will be cast into the lake of fire along with death.

It is comforting to some people to think that their loved one who has passed on is looking down on them, but some pastors in the discussion asked if you had a chance to look at the suffering of this world or look into the face of Jesus, which would you choose?  I recently saw a meme where they postulated that when we think of a loved one who has passed, that is due to the loved one telling friends about us in Heaven.  Again, a comforting thought, but those types of details of the next life are not mentioned in Scripture.

But for us who have fond memories of our loved ones, those memories are like roses.  And in the December of our lives, those memories are priceless.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory