by Keith Wommack
I was in the woods, cold, pacing back and forth, squinting at 3×5 cards in the moonlight.
I had to familiarize myself with an hour-long speech-a speech about God and prayer. I could remember half the talk, but the rest just wouldn’t stick.
I was in the woods because I was chaperoning my stepson’s Boy Scout campout. I had only two days to get the speech down, so it had to come on the trip with us. I was bordering on the frantic. The boys were supposed to be in their tents, sleeping. But there was Aaron.
Aaron was not a trouble-maker. He just seemed needy. He was always in your face, looking for attention, talking when he shouldn’t.
“Mr. Wommack, what are you doing?” He walked up, stood too close, and grabbed the cards out of my hand. “What are these?” he asked while I did the grown-up “give me my cards back” thing.
“Notes for a speech,” I told him. He said, “I’ll help!”
My heart sank. Cold, frustrated . . . and now Aaron.
He wouldn’t give the cards back and started pacing with me. As we paced, though, things changed. He gave hints when I was stumped or he would force me to think harder, refusing to let me see the cards. And his tenacity worked. I started to remember the speech.
As we worked, Aaron would remark every so often, “This is neat stuff, Mr. Wommack.” And, “This is cool, I never knew this before.”
Then after almost an hour of pacing, Aaron sat down on a stump, looked up at me, and asked, “Don’t you think, Mr. Wommack, that the same God that gave you the ideas for this speech also gave you the ability to memorize it?”
“Aaron the problem” had turned into “Aaron the angel.” His words hit me like a brick up side the head. I had that speech down before we left the campsite.
I gave that talk many times all across America. And whenever I need help trying to memorize things, I think about Aaron and the cold night in the woods.
I’m finding that I best get in touch with the true sense of memory-the present knowledge of God’s goodness-with gratitude. Why gratitude? Because gratitude is an attitude filled with grace. It opens my thought to all the goodness that memory holds.
You could say that memory and gratitude live under one roof. Gratitude garners into her chambers all that I have witnessed of God’s goodness. In return, memory is thankful that gratitude’s chambers are filled with the graces of God. They effortlessly blend in thought and indicate the glory of our Father-Mother, God.
Thanks, Aaron.
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I love this, and especially the idea that “memory and gratitude live under one roof”. It is sooooo helpful!
Thanks!
To Amanda,
Glad you enjoyed it. Gratitude is so important. It completes the circuit in a prayer.
God is satisfied with us. And we should show HIm we are satisfied with Him. In fact, we express His satisfaction!
Hi Keith, Loved your message..I tend to become a little stressed with presentations and the whole preparation part, so your message was a sweet reminder that God is always expresing itself and that one can trust him in all details of everything…
To Isa,
Glad you found Aaron helpful as well.
Yes, the writing, editing, and preparation for delivering are all divine Mind being Mind this moment and the next. We are where and how Mind is being Mind. We are Mind’s idea!
It’s also comforting to learn that fear and panic are not really what we think and feel. They are impositions of the carnal mind that we can dismiss prayerfully. It may take effort at times. But God strengthens and impels to do so!
I love that pesky Aaron didn’t give up pestering you! In fact, perhaps every person or creature that we see as a “pest” is really presenting us with a great gift: the chance to exchange the wrong concept of creation with the right one — the one that sees all that God made as angels of the highest order, bringing only tidings of joy and gladness on their wings! (That includes mosquitoes, fire ants, and flies, too! They all must have a good purpose, even if it’s only to remind us to humbly learn to love irrespective of rank. When we do that, they no longer want to “bug” us or get “under our skin”!!!! :-)) Here’s to Aaron and all our angel messengers!
To fopa,
I believe you are so right!
But you forgot to mention possums, skunks, snakes, and wild hogs. Encountered a few of these pesky angels on campouts as well!
What if you are grateful but still can’t remember? I had an advisor in college that said I had/have a mental block! No matter how long I would work on memorizing something or just recalling what I read, I couldn’t remember it. I am sad to say that maybe I have passed on this trait to our son who is having the same problem remembering. How can you have gratitude if you feel that you are a failure to yourself and those around you?
I believe you might find it very helpful to read through Mrs. Eddy’s book “Science and Health.” As you read, notice how often she mentions that God is the only Mind; the basis for all true consciousness. For me, when I have caught a glimpse that God is the real thinker and rememberer, so to speak, mental blocks crumble.
You are God’s idea. You reflect His wisdom and clarity. The belief that we think or are conscious because of a matter based substance (brain) should be questioned and found to be untrue.
All that you can pass to your son is what God is giving to us all: intelligence, peace, wisdom, and intuition.
I dont get the moral of the story?
How come aaron came out of his tent and took your cards
To Matt,
Aaron was out of his tent because he had gone to the bathroom. I had tried to hide from him, but he spotted me anyway.
This experience taught me that God speaks to me in many ways. This night, He happened to reveal to me that I expressed His capabilities and abilities. I learned this through Aaron’s persistence. I also learned to value everyone’s real gifts and not try to hide from discovering them!
Gifts are ideas that bring fulfillment. They never take away, they add to or bring us into the conscious realization that all is good. The best gifts I’ve ever had are the one’s I’ve opened with my eyes, not my hands!