On this day when we celebrate Halloween, I’m grateful to my
cousin Gwyndolyn for reminding me of a bit of wisdom from my favorite TV witch,
Aunt Clara from Bewitched: “I know I’m
a little vague at times, but on the other hand, when I forget something, I’m
definite.”
Actually, these words could just as easily have been spoken
by God. We’ve all experienced frustration with God’s vagueness when our path is
not clear and we don’t feel like we’re receiving any divine guidance. However, as
Sr. Mary Irene Nowell reminds us in her book on the psalms, Pleading, Cursing, Praying, when it
comes to forgetting, God is quite definite: “What God remembers, exists; what
God forgets, ceases to be.” No wonder the psalmist prays these words in Psalm
25:6-7:
Remember your
compassion, O Lord, and your faithful love, for they endure forever. Do not
remember the sins and rebellions of my youth. Please remember me according to
the measure of your faithful love and your goodness, O Lord.
A good rule of thumb is to not forget that which God
remembers and stop remembering what God has forgotten. As Aunt Clara knew, forgetting
can sometimes be a definite virtue! 
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