To remember is to experience the power of the past in the context of the present. To remember is not to picture a moment as it happened or to act like a computer reproducing the 1s and 0s that have been stored perfectly. Memory brings the past into the present once more and is significant not because of what happened, but because of what happens. Memory is alive not because of how we were affected but because of how we are transformed.

To remember our baptism has nothing to do with being able to picture the event and everything to do with experiencing the power of God’s love that comes to us even before we know we are in need. Baptism is about what God has done in us, and only then about our response.

To remember the night when Christ gave himself up for us has nothing to do with giving an objective report of the details on that night and everything to do with experiencing the power of God’s love that led God to give his own life for us while we were yet sinners. Communion is about what God has done for us, and only then about our response.