How do we remember painful things? That question seems backwards, because we typically try not to think about painful things. We work hard at forgetting bad memories and tell ourselves we should “move on” instead of dwelling on the negative moments in our lives. But some things are not easily forgotten. And, in truth, sometimes it is only in remembering and reflecting on the dark moments of life that we can find the faith and strength to walk forward into the light.
The sidewalks in many cities in Germany are made out of paving stones – gray slate pounded into the sand and clay to form a beautiful, yet uneven, walking surface beside the houses. Recently a different type of stone has been appearing in these walkways – a stone covered in hard brass and engraved with painful information. It will have a name etched into it with an inscription noting that this person used to live near here before losing her or his home and life during the time of the Nazi regime. Often it will list the concentration camp in which the person died – Dachau, Buchenwald, Auschwitz. What is interesting to me is that the German word for these pavement memorials is “stolpersteine,” which means “stumbling blocks.”
No one thinks fondly about stumbling blocks. They literally trip us up, slow us down, and can be painful. Yet they serve a purpose. They make us stop and reflect – to look back to see what we’ve stumbled over – and, in this case, to remember a part of our shared history that we are too prone to hurry past and forget. Walking past a building and knowing that once a family dwelt there who lost their lives unjustly means that you never take that building for granted again. Nor do you take for granted the freedoms that have protected your own life thus far.
As individuals and as a society, we often stumble. We carry our scars with us and our painful memories within us. But there is value in remembering from whence we’ve come and the ways we have wandered away from what is just and righteous and true. For after we pause to remember our lives’ “stolpersteine,” we then walk forward by faith – grasping once more the Savior’s extended hand that bears a scar formed by human violence – a Savior who graciously picks us up whenever we stumble and who shows us a better way.
We’ll talk more about this on Sunday, October 2 – World Communion Sunday – 11:00 am worship – East Liberty Presbyterian Church.
– Randy Bush