For most of our younger years, we are required to remember
things. Children wonder if enough room exists in their heads to store all of
this stuff. Of course, our super-computers manage to process the information
and keep it for the rest of our lives.
Many of us memorized things at church. We learned to put our
hands together and then to recite the Lord’s Prayer. Before long, that
recitation was one way we could participate in “big church” since no such thing
as children’s church existed back then. Unfortunately, we sometimes uttered the
words without thinking about their meanings.
We also plugged away
at the “23rd Psalm.” Some parts were scary, such as “yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Still, we
finally “got” all the words, and over the years, the psalm has comforted us in
difficult times.
In big church, we doodled on bulletins as the grown-ups
recited such things as the Apostles’ Creed. Even without knowing it, our brains
were absorbing those words, and much to our surprise, we could regurgitate them. Never mind the fact that we understood none
of it. For years, I wondered why we professed belief it the Catholic Church and
didn’t get at all “the commune of saints.”
In school, we students were bombarded with things to
memorize. Math teachers stood over us like taskmasters and demanded we learn
our multiplication tables. We also had to keep straight the
functions of
division. In high school, teachers demanded that we memorize theorems to apply
to geometry. I managed to master multiplication and even division, but algebra
and geometry baffled me. I certainly didn’t understand how a letter from the
alphabet could, in any way, hold numerical value. I still don’t get it. 
English was no less demanding. I remember committing to
memory long lists of conjugated irregular verbs, “er” and “est” rules, and
pronoun cases. I understood those things much better. In fact, by the time I’d
finished 8th grade, the only new things I added to my grammar
knowledge covered were gerund,
infinitives, and participial phrases. Sadly, too many folks didn’t learn these
rules because they say such things as “I seen you yesterday” or “I done my work
in class.”
I also caught on to
spelling rules, such as “i” before “e” except after “c” or when with they sound
like a long “a” in “neighbor” or “sleigh.” What always made things difficult
were the exceptions to the rules. They defied logic.
At home, we also learned many things. We recited our
addresses and phone numbers before ever attending school. Another must was
saying “please and thank you.” Moms reminded us nightly to take baths, use
soap, and wash our ears. At the supper table, we grabbed a spoon and made ready
to shovel in the food. However, parents corrected us and demanded that we hold
utensils properly. Today, my mother would have a hissy fit to see so many
incorrectly holding a fork or spoon.
As adults, we reach a tipping point of memorizing and
learning. We concentrate on things that help make us successful in our jobs.
Luckily, we have those things our parents taught to pass along to our children.
At least that makes a small part of life a little easier.
As we get a bit older, learning takes a backseat to
forgetting. I struggle to remember where I’ve placed my wallet or keys if they
aren’t in the normal places. I fail to recall the reason I walk into the room.
When the kids come home, I call roll instead of speaking the one name I need.
Our minds are amazing things. We can fill them for a
lifetime and never need an external hard drive for overflow knowledge. On too
many occasions, we fail to learn the things we need for success in areas. On
other occasions, we fill our minds with too much useless information, things
that won’t make much difference in 50 years. Still, I believe that memorizing
some things and learning some other important lessons are worthy pursuits.
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