To remember or not to remember?

Isaiah 43:14-21
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake I will send to Babylon and break down all the bars,
   and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation.
I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.
Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,
who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honour me, the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.

I chose to include verse 14 because it provides clear context. God is going to send a messiah to rescue the people once again. 

Yes, once again... imbedded in this text is a reminder of the exodus. The central story of the Jewish tradition. Pictures of chariots and horses, armies, warriors, the sea and a path through the mighty waters. 

But do not remember. 

What?  Judaism is all about remembering.  Even in this text that challenges the people to not remember has bits and pieces of memories... that they should or shouldn't remember?  I'm not sure. 

Honestly.  What should we remember and what should we not remember?  What's worth remembering? 

The things that are lost in our lives are the hardest things to forget.  Those things that we've lost forever embed themselves in our muscle memory - the hug of a grandma that we can never give again or giggles of a child we hear faintly when we close our eyes or the wise words or unwavering support of a dead friendship. Memory lies within our bodies even when we wish to forget with our minds.

Moving on requires remembering. So what should we remember and what should we not remember? What's worth remembering?

Is it possible to hold onto a rescuing God while not remember the means by which that rescuing God has acted in the past? Is it possible to cling to the rescuer and not the escape route? Hmmm...

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