Does this picture remind you of anything? Well, if you are over 70 it really should. Forgetfulness is a part of growing older. It can become quite annoying at times, more of a nuisance than anything else (so far, anyway… ask me again in 10 years). Even the brightest among us, can forget things from time to time. Paul even had a problem with forgetting things, as this passage from his letter to the Corinthians indicates.
1 Corinthians 1 ( World English Bible )
10 Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” and, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius,
15 so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name.
16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.)
17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News—not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void.
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.
22 For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Paul was a man who was focused one thing; proclaiming the Truth of The Gospel. His mission was to share this Truth with everyone. So what if he forgot one thing ( see verse 16, above ). I think he did a fine job as an evangelist, for his commitment to The Gospel is an inspiration to all.
The next time you forget something ( alias, have a senior moment ), don’t worry about it, for you are in good company, for even Paul did this. And just so you know… its OK to scratch your head.