Remember One Another

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-11 ESV).

Well, I thought I was finished with the inspiration from Washington DC; however, here’s another that came to mind today. While visiting the Renwick Gallery, we saw the current exhibit, No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man. It is an exhibit of enormous scale that has been creating quite a large attendance captivating visitors because of the unusual creativity of each work. Reading the brochure about the exhibit, the show’s curator Nora Atkinson wrote, “Burning Man is all about human connection in a time when we’ve gone so fully digital.” I must say, like all the others at the exhibit, I couldn’t resist from pulling out my phone to post some of the incredible pieces of work. One of those, which my camera could not really capture in scale was the “Memorial Room.” While there isn’t a way to visually capture in one picture both the attention to detail and the grand scale of “the Temple” in the exhibit, let me give you a brief description. The room itself is very large and the exhibit actually becomes and fills the room. It is constructed of small pieces of wood. Some of the pieces are note size (3 by 3 inches). It is intended to simulate a meditation room of Asian inspiration, allowing people to spend time remembering someone, or something of importance in their life. In fact, there are blank pieces of wood provided to write those names on and place them in the wall of the “temple.” As I slowly made my way around the room, I saw hundreds of such names and descriptions of events. The names really caught my eye. I wondered who they were, and what they meant in the writer’s life. I was also drawn back in my own experiences to some of the people who have had that kind of impact in my life. Ultimately that took me to today’s reading. We are children of light and life through Christ. That’s the real encouraging message we have to share with others; and, it is the only message that will have an eternal impact on those we love. So, my singular message of encouragement to you today, is “Rejoice!” In Christ you are redeemed. This life’s trial is merely momentary. Freedom does await!