December 31, 2020 (Thursday)
(edited from 3/3/17)
Some blogs are about memories. I got the idea for today’s blog from the title of an old song, and, yes, the blog is about memories.
There’s something about growing old and this being the last day of the year that makes me want to look backwards across the years of my life and treasure the good moments and the wonderful people whose lives intersected mine. Sweet memories.
In past blogs I’ve mentioned Browning Ware’s sermon in which he compared his life to the Rio Grande, a 
great river fed by many tributaries. He pointed out that all of us can use that illustration to describe our own lives. The Rio Grande begins in a Colorado valley as a small trickle. I saw the tiny flow one day and just for fun I jumped across it, declaring that I had jumped across the Rio Grande River. By the time the great river reaches the Gulf of Mexico, it is nothing like a small trickle. It is a big, strong, important river, worthy of its name. Our lives are like that. As one person after another comes into our lives, we are changed in some way, mostly for the better.
Looking back at my life, my memories go back to a time when I was not even three years old, seeing my infant twin sisters lying on either side of our mother in her bed. From that first memory, my treasure chest from the past has grown. Chronologically, my parents, step-parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, my beloved wife and our dear children–all played a part. I could recite many specific happenings involving them. Teachers, from the First Grade in 1937 to that last professor in the seminary in 1959, all played a part in shaping my life, enlarging and empowering the river that was I. Friends and neighbors and church people who influenced me to accept Christ and begin preaching were vital contributors, adding something special to my inventory of personal traits. Each church of which I was a member throughout my life and in which I served in some way shaped my attitudes and honed my talents.
Out of that vast number of people I have known through the years, certain individuals seem to have exerted more influence than others. I would like to name some of them, but space does not permit what would be a long list. I thank the Lord for each one of them. That adventure continues right up to the present hour. I’m still being influenced. I’m still learning. I like thinking that I have learned to love more and have a deeper appreciation for what others do for me.
This blog has been about memories, and the title of a wonderful song is an appropriate name for the blog. If you will take a moment to listen to Andy Williams sing Mickey Newbury’s song,”Sweet Memories,” you will be enriched by his singing.