Milestones and Memorials

Today, I celebrated the seventh month since my diagnosis. Exactly seven months ago today, I was informed by my operating surgeon not only that I had cancer but also that it was in its last stages. The "mean life expectancy" given, as a rough guide, was that I had approximately 7-9 months to live. And so today was an important milestone in my walk of faith. For seven months has passed, and I'm still very much alive and kicking!

I took my family out for a meal at a Hong Kong-style restaurant as part of the celebration event. And then I had a time of prayer and thanksgiving with my children.

Milestones are important in our lives. By taking the time to celebrate significant points of transition and inflection points in our lives, we refocus our faith and consolidate our confidence in God.

In Joshua 4:4-7, we find this story:

"So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."

I've often wondered at both the value and the utility of this particular memorial. How could you ever be reminded of these stones unless you actually went scuba diving (or unless the Lord once again blocked the waters of the Jordan to allow people to cross on dry land). But then I realised that the memorial wasn't just in the stones, it was also in the story itself -- the retelling of this story memorialized the event.

That's what I'm seeking to do with my kids. I'm creating milestones, not just for me, but for them. I'm retelling the story -- creating a narrative of faith -- which they will understand in the retelling.

In 1 Samuel 7:2-12, we also find an interesting story. After routing the Philistines, Samuel sets up a stone and calls it "Ebenezer," meaning, "the stone of help," and verse 12 tells us:

"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far has the LORD helped us.'"

The Message phrases 1 Samuel 7:12 in this way:

"Samuel took a single rock and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it "Ebenezer" (Rock of Help), saying, 'This marks the place where God helped us.'"

July 7 is my Ebenezer. Today, I declared, "Thus far has the LORD helped me," and tonight I proclaimed to my children, "This [day] marks the [time when] God helped us."

As far as I'm concerned, I'm healed already. Now we're just waiting for the symptoms to catch up with this fact! But the establishing and commemorating of memorials -- our virtual Ebenezers -- is important in the walk of faith. Milestones are integral to the journey.