What Remember Use to Mean

“What? They have never heard the story of the birth of Jesus?” my son asked as we are read “The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever” as a family. In the story the Hurdman children, a poor, fatherless family wanted to join the Christmas Pageant and wanted to be the main characters. At the first rehearsal they asked many, many questions about the story. Finally the director read the story to them from the Bible to help them see the whole picture. They still had more questions. My sweet son was very concerned why they had never heard the story before. “Did they just forget it, mom?” I answered him with a question, “Have you ever forgotten the Christmas story?” “No” “Can you remember something you’ve never learned?” …Silence. I love when pondering happens. We spent the rest of the time doing a word study on Remember.

Teake went to the 1828 Dictionary, “to have in the mind an idea which had been in the mind before and which recurs to the mind without effort.” We learned that anciently recollect used to mean “using effort to recall an idea.” Today we interchange these meanings. We took time to think of things that took little to effort in remembering and things that took a lot of effort of recollect. It was a fun activity.

In pondering more I remembered (pun intended :)) the “Remember Cycle” We promise to “remember Him” in the sacrament covenant and we are promised to “always have the spirit” and the Holy Ghost “brings all things to our remembrance.”

The word remember is found in the Book of Mormon 157 times and the word recollect is only once. Since the language of the Book of Mormon was translated at the time the 1828 dictionary was written I believe the word remember is more about this first meaning of “recurs to the mind without effort.” When Helaman (Helaman 5) spoke to his sons about remembering their names and that the good works of their name sakes would come to mind without effort.

What comes to your mind without effort?

We haven’t finished the book, but we are sure that the Herdman’s will remember without effort the birth of Jesus for the rest of their lives.