The Memory of the Heart

“His mother kept all these sayings in her heart.” — Luke ii. 51.

They tell us that memory is one of the intellectual powers. I think that the strongest memory is a power of the heart. There are memories of the intellect which are short-lived and evanescent; they are like the morning cloud that vanishes away. But the things that are kept in the heart are not evanescent; they last for ever. There are those who complain of having short memories, but how often does it spring from want of sufficient interest? If we could transfer our duties from the intellect to the heart, we should rarely forget them. Love photographs the impressions of the past in colours that do not fade; the things which are kept in the Heart are kept for ever.

My soul, cultivate the powers of thy heart. The heart has powers as well as the understanding. Thou hast an eye of the heart which sees deeper than the natural eye, which is promised even the vision of God. Thou hast an ear of the heart which hears more keenly than the natural ear, which can catch the Father’s footsteps as He passes by. Thou hast a judgment of the heart which can reason more truly than the natural judgment, which can penetrate the truth at a glance, and discern the end from the beginning. Thou hast a memory of the heart which is longer than the natural memory, which can preserve the things of the far past in all the freshness of yesterday, and keep in morning’s glow the remembrance of vanished days. Give to thy God this memory of the heart. Kemember there is a connection between thy memory of God and thy hope in God. What gives the Psalmist such a golden view of the future that he cries, “I shall not want “? It is just his golden view of the past. He remembers that God has already led him by the green pastures and beside the still waters; that He has already restored his very soul. What, after that, can be too much to expect? What makes the Apostle say that in the days to come God will freely give him all things? It is just his memory that in the clays gone by God had given him more than all things put together, had not withheld from him His only begotten Sou. Thine is no irrational faith. Thy hope in rising suns comes from the memory of suns that have set; thy prospect is thy child of the retrospect; thy future is born of thy hitherto. Keep in thy heart all the steps of the old way. Remember the ram in the thicket that saved thee from sacrifice, the road across the sea that saved thee from storm, the manna in the wilderness that saved thee from famine, the tempering of Marah that saved thee from bitterness. Remember the mountains that were brought low, the doors that were opened, the crooked ways that became straight, and the rough places that were made plain. Remember, above all, that thy yesterday encloses a Diviue sacrifice for thee, and thou wilt not be afraid of aught that to-morrow can bring; the prophecies of thy fear shall be conquered by the memories of thy heart.