I remember reading a funeral sermon once where the priest pondered aloud..."Isn’t it odd how we don’t realize how special someone is to us until they are gone?"

Memory can serve as a catalyst for all of us to celebrate the lives and gifts of others while they are still with us. If what we are seeking is a deep and rich spiritual life, then memory suggests that we begin by cherishing everyone around us.

Sometimes I think too many of us think that being holy means spending all our time in church, heads bowed, solemnly singing. But our memories call us to a broader kind of spiritual development. A spirituality that points to getting involved in the lives of those around us because memory will show us just how special they are.

Occasionally I get the sense that some of us are thinking we could be a whole lot holier if there just weren’t so many people around. "I could be a real saint if I didn’t have all these people bugging me." But memory reminds us that it is precisely that bugging that brings us to God.