Emotion

Fading Memories

**SPOILER ALERT: This post contains commentary over the last Season 5 episodes of Chuck from NBC**

Memories tend to fade, though intuitive impressions seem to stick; those forged in the heart – memories of emotion – continue to astound me by their tie to our deeper subconscious. As such, television shows always seem to wrench me in the gut when I follow them through to fruition; Chuck caught me deep and tugged me along to the end.

Long after family vacation, long after the vibrant daiquiri rainbow fades, the bond forged between us will remain. Years after high school, months between our time together, my dearest friends and I remain close to my heart. See, the thing is that memories don't fade, not quite like that. Physiologically speaking, it takes a tremendous rewiring of the human brain to erase emotional impressions, almost like hardwired programs in the motherboard of a computer.

When Sarah forgets Chuck, wiped clean by the intersect, her fundamental memories as an individual from years before remain intact, albeit missing substantial context. Here's the bit that fascinates me and captivates my heart in the show: when faced with Chuck's resolute and hopeful love for her, Sarah can't help but feel her memory of him. She's caught at in impasse, a dissonance between her temporary software and her hardwired memory of Chuck – and she's frozen with uncertainty. The most powerful of human emotions, love wrote itself to her heart where she couldn't hope to completely forget it. Changed forever by the power of love, she lets Chuck close enough to reset her software and reprogram her corrupted memory files. With a laugh and a smile, the sun sets over the ocean – and the small world of Burbank, California once more becomes that which it was meant to be.


It's funny to remember that our human motherboard was initially programmed when we were created, but none other than God himself. The Great Programmer designed our intelligence after His own! We feel and think and interact according in large part to our programming; our fall in Eden precipitated decay in our logic board, so to speak, with the first mistake compounding in subsequent processes. Our after-market software is tainted by the virus we took from the Tree in Eden, and we now execute our acquired programs within our RAM by a flawed system. The virus, introduced in procreative reproduction, is not our original self. We were designed for a greater purpose, but the overwritten software shortfalls that purpose; our purpose is found in our motherboard, in the hardwired processes, in every fiber of our emotional memory from before we formed our own memories as a conscious computing unit.

God's love changed us before we ever knew it, before we booted up for the first cry from the womb – and our motherboard knows His love. Don't you see? We're all Sarah Walker, distrusting of the world we were never made to know and holding no conscious memory of the world God programmed to our hearts. True love gives choice, allows the chance to accept or deny the sacrifice of love – but our Creator loves us more than we could possibly imagine, so very much more than Chuck every loved Sarah.

You are His beloved the bride of Christ. Be blessed. Be loved.

Elohay Kedem

Have you ever sat riveted to those around you at an airport whilst awaiting your flight to board? The young businessman in the suit seems a bit self-conscious; the middle-aged woman with the children seems intent upon silencing her babe, needing peace and quiet. Sometimes at the mall you see people out with friends, laughing and having fun; the families are always entertaining and tend to have that distinct tension walking along—we know who's in charge of the wandering clan, and who balances the checkbook.

But why are people so thoroughly intriguing?

Whenever I happen to have my camera with me as I enter the public, barely can I resist the urge to capture so many faces from so many places! If you've spent time with my camera and I, you most certainly know this tendency.

A face carries the emotions, the fears and dreams of a person; scars show the toils and strife, the eyes hold the soul and spark of mind; faces characterize a persona in its entirety—and people are made in the image of God. My favorite portraits rely on a single variable: genuine emotion. And no matter the emotion, if the expressions are a genuine feeling, not a cheeze-whiz-style smile, people tend to look more natural. More natural, more beautiful: more human. Faces carry a story.

I once had the chance to take an afternoon on a playground with a pair of boys (who embody the energy of the universe) and their mother. As they played, I joined them, often toting my camera along—especially as my objective was to take photos. Only later, looking back at the photos I'd taken of the two rascals, did I realize that the best were impromptu and unplanned, better yet if the camera was barely even aimed!

The only reason that I could think of for this (odd) phenomenon is that the boys offered their most natural, genuine face during the most natural, spontaneous moments; it stands to reason that the photos weren't just lucky.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
— Genesis 1:27

We were made in the image of God; humans are animals, some of the most cunning and reasonable animals in existence, though certainly not the smartest of them all. Our power as a race stems from our ingenuity and passion—more specifically, from our characteristic souls.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
— Genesis 1:31

Through all of my years, I have never met a dull man; some are bored, slovenly or slothful, but no matter where you go on earth, you will find people with a story and a purpose.


None may look upon the Face of God and survive for the sheer glory and power of His image. God is beyond our comprehension and understanding, so perfect and pure is His character.

Deuteronomy 33:27 claims the name of Elohay Kedem, the God of the beginning:

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’
— Deuteronomy 33:27

Made in His image, we all share the common origins of perfection, and our imperfection only taints the canvas as we allow it; though God created many things, only after one day and creation did God claim that his work was "very good". As mankind, we are stewards of our world. We are marked men from the birth of all Man.

It's intriguing to view faces for one particular reason, though: a face is only the beginning of God's story for each of us.