All things new

 

The writing was on the screen.

A warning. ‘You’ve used up almost all of your memory...’

Hah! There are days that I think that…

‘Buy more now, or you are in danger of not being able to access your emails…’

Deep breath. I don’t need to buy more memory, to build another barn to house my old emails. I need to clear the clutter, delete the dross.

So far I’ve spent several hours looking back and deleting. I’m back into the 11,000 era now, having shed about 4,000. It’ll take me awhile longer and it is tedious, mostly.

Doug advised that there is a way of deleting everything older than however many years you want, erasing them in one fell swoop. But that would wipe out beloved voices from the past. Emails from my dad, who passed away nearly twelve years ago.

I want to get rid of the rubbish without losing the gold.

In amongst the pages of emails, I am finding poignant reminders of situations of heartbreak and distress over the years, as well as reminders of successes and joys. Both laughter and tears are scattered along memory lane.

My own inner life has parallels. In some ways I would like God to just wipe away a lot of the junk that clogs my memory. But as with my emails, I don’t want to lose the great memories that glisten like diamonds on the bare earth. Nor, really, do I want to miss the sad memories which revive relationships now dormant or gone.

God has taken on a lot with me! I am so grateful that I don’t have to trawl through my memories, as I am with my emails, looking for things to delete. I can trust Him to bring back those events which he wants to heal, to remind me of those relationships he wants to restore, and consign to the chasm of oblivion those things that just pull me down.

‘Behold I am making all things new,’ God promises. His patience and perseverance are astonishing, and I am so grateful.