Anamnesis

The anniversary of 9/11 is also an opportunity to better appreciate the Greek word "anamnesis".

Fr. (John) Kaleeg Hainsworth's brilliant podcast teaches this so well, and strongly recommend everyone to listen. 

From the podcast - "No one can really grasp what happens in Holy Week or in any Orthodox Liturgy without some grasp of a very important Greek word: anamnesis. The only English equivalent for this word is ‘remembrance’. This is unfortunate, because ‘remembrance’ has almost none of the meaning in English that it has in ancient Greek."

I still remember exactly where I was when I saw the first tower in flames, and watching in horror and disbelief when the second plane hit the South tower. I know I'm not alone, and it's a memory that is so hard to describe but a memory that will stay with me as long as I live.

My oldest son Jordan was 15 months at the time, and I was holding him so close that day ... but his memories are from our stories, and he in turn will share with his children. But, as good a kid he is, he cannot really experience 9/11 like those of us who lived and remembered that day in 2001.

But, my experience will *never* be like those in New York that day, or those who were inside the tower when the planes hit and the first-responders. My shared experience with them through the television that day brought us together, but can never be as intense and personal.

We all remember 9/11 .. but, the intensity and personal connection is so different based on our age and where we were. But, in English, there's only one word "remember" for every case.

As Kaleeg Hainsworth taught, " Remembrance, therefore, cannot be understood as simply memory, however significant that memory may be; one cannot have a memory of an event that they had not been alive to witness."

But. we all must remember. Which is why we keep the stories of 9/11 alive. And, this is very much how the ancient Church operates as well.