ANOTHER WORD FOR TUESDAY

 You guys are keeping me on my toes!  I announce I have finished writing about the words sent in after five weeks of blogs and here come some more.  I LOVE IT!

My sweet niece, who has stepped up to take over the chore of helping me on multiple fronts sent today's word.  (Love that girl!)  Leave it to a James to do their best to make me think.  There is nothing we like better than a round of verbal ball.  (No shouting in our clan---we prefer the volume down but intensity up)  What could be more fun than to have a round of verbal jousting, take a break to think it over, and come back for the second half.  WHERE in the world did this come from and what in the world was she thinking when she sent ~

To explain how complex this word can be, let me give you the first FOUR definitions~  (there are more that deal with science)

1a: the act of associating

b: the state of being associated : COMBINATION, RELATIONSHIPhad a long association with the firm

2: an organization of persons having a common interest : SOCIETYan alumni association

3: something linked in memory or imagination with a thing or personHis former school has only negative associations for him.

4: the process of forming mental connections or bonds between sensations, ideas, or memories

In all honesty, the first thing I thought of was the pop group from the 60's-70's ~ The Association.  NOW if you are in my peer group, you will remember "Cherish", "Along Comes Mary",  "Windy" ...  I spent many an hour singing along with their tunes (not to mention dancing).  GOOD MEMORIES!  I am certain this is NOT what my niece was thinking!

My mother drilled home the message, "You are known by those you associate with."  (I am pretty sure there were other mothers who were telling their offspring the same thing about me).  Of course I belong to a number of associations and I associate certain sights, sounds, smells with various people.  (I associate the beach with wonderful friends we vacationed at the beach with for over 30 years).

I am writing this on September 9th. (you all know my process of writing involves writing ahead and re-reading and more thinking) .  I clearly remember the events of watching 9/11 unfold before my eyes on television that very day.  I was watching the morning news after a run getting ready to head out for the day.  They interrupted the broadcast to show a video of the first plane crash and we all know how the remainder of the day played out.  I sat glued to the television in utter disbelief as the day unfolded.  I remember the details, order, and events as well as my horrified  reaction in vivid detail.  

It was a day I will never forget and I associate the anniversary of that date every year with those horrific memories.  It seems many have forgotten the change this day brought to America.  We went from a trusting laissez faire attitude to a securely  sewed up tight country.  My generation lost their innocence and our ability to trust so easily with the events of that day.  It will forever be associated with the first terrorist attack on US soil.

My parent's generation will forever associate December 7, 1941 with the beginning of America's participation in WW II.  Perhaps because my father fought in this war, I have always associated the date with the war.  It is not the same for me as my parents, though, for I was not alive to see the events unfold.  I did not live with husbands, sons, fathers, brothers being thousands of miles away in harms way.  It was personal for me--but it had one degree of separation.   The war forever changed the world and to us Americans this date will forever be associated with that change.

Points in time are often associated with life altering events.  I mark the date of my parents' births and deaths on those anniversaries; I mark the date of the births of my children, grandchildren, other family and friends;  I mark beginnings and endings of importance to me with the date on a calendar.  These points in time will always be associated with those important events and always bring back the memories associated with those events.  Mankind has the unique trait of marking time and time becomes a point of association for us.

God is omnipresent--without time---He is everywhere at the same time.  We have talked about how difficult this is for man to grasp. God obviously created time as detailed in Genesis and the associations related to it for a reason.  His Word is filled with annual festivals, years of wandering, time of fasting, and time for creation.  God created this measurement for the benefit of man.  BUT there will come a day when we will no longer need this measurement and the corresponding associations with points in time.   How do you measure eternity--how do you mark infinity?  God's gift of time helps us to mark points in time to remember for the benefit of man.   Every morning upon first awakening I repeat the same scripture.  I associate my eyes opening with repeating that scripture.  Every night as I wind my day down, I pray.  I associate the dark of the evening after clicking off that bedside lamp with that final prayer before sleep.   God's gift of time has given us the measurement necessary to mark a point in time with an associated  corresponding event.  OH, but there will come a day--a point in time when time will be irrelevant for eternity is without measure.  Eternity will infinitely be associated with being in the presence of God.  What a glorious and endless point in time that will be.

"As long as the earth remains,

there will be planting and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night."

Genesis 8:22