Remember Me

Friday, March 12, 2014 – Week of 1 Lent, Year Two

[Go to Mission St Clare for an online version of the Daily Office including today’s scripture readings.]

Today’s Readings for the Daily Office:

Psalms 40 (morning) // 54, 51 (evening)

Genesis 40:1-23

1 Corinthians 3:16-23

Mark 2:13-22

Joseph in the book of Genesis has one of those lives shaped by sudden reversals of favor and fortune. He wins high esteem, and he’s brought down by others’ jealousy; he climbs a ladder of success, and he plummets after a false accusation. We meet Joseph today at one of his low points: in an Egyptian prison. Things just might be looking up for Joseph, though. The captain of the guard has put Joseph in charge of two new prisoners, and Joseph starts to build a track record of correct interpretations of dreams. Is Joseph back on his way to the top?

One of the new prisoners–Pharaoh’s cupbearer—is Joseph’s primary hope. Joseph interprets the cupbearer’s dream for him, predicting restoration to his former place of honor serving the Pharaoh’s wine. Joseph has one simple request for the cupbearer: “Remember me when it is well with you.” Joseph asks the cupbearer to mention his case to Pharaoh and to reverse the injustices that landed him first in a pit, and then in this dungeon.

Remembrance is an act of compassion that counteracts life’s arbitrary ups and downs. When it is well with us, who should we remember? Our mentors and teachers, our ancestors and friends, the marginalized and the imprisoned all cry out to us for remembrance from wherever we’ve left them.

Whether we reach back and thank them, reach out and help them, plead their case to others, or cherish them in our hearts, this remembrance is a holy practice. It binds human beings together amidst the peaks and valleys that divide us according to the whims of fortune. It gives us strength to hope that we can climb toward the liberating light that shines for us all. So today, from wherever it is well with us, let’s listen for the voice that calls, “Remember me.”

Lora Walsh blogs about taking risks and seeking grace at A Daily Scandal. She serves as curate of Grace Episcopal Church in Siloam Springs and as director of the Ark Fellows, an Episcopal Service Corps program sponsored by St. Paul’s in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

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