I don’t know if I oughta go sailin’ down no hill with nothin’ between the ground and my brains but a piece of government plastic. ~ Randy Quaid, as Eddie in Christmas Vacation

“false memories” ~ Researches performed a series of tests to determine how we create false memories.* A group was asked to perform a series of simple tasks (like shuffling cards), in between they watch videos of people performing different simple tasks. A few weeks later the group was tested to see if they could remember which actions they had taken. Almost a quarter of the time the group reported memories of doing an action they really did not do—but had only seen someone else perform. (Click here for article.)

*A false memory is one that our mind has created. It never happened, but according our memory it did. Which is more than a little troubling. Did you really do what you think you did over the summer or has you whole be some strange inception.

Of course some of us give into the false memories. This past week I read that Randy Quaid, who played Cousin Eddie in Christmas Vacation, was arrested (to the left is his booking photo, click on photo to see article). I know it not a big deal for a celebrity to get arrested, but Randy was arrested for squatting in his old home. It seems he and his wife sold their house a few years ago, but decided to move back in. When the police arrived they claimed they still owned the house and his wife resisted arrest… I suppose Randy must be a good actor, because he is living the life of a homeless bum from his acting roles (granted even Cousin Eddie had an RV, “That there’s an RV Clark. Now you don’t go fallin in love with it cause we’re takin it with us when we leave next month!”).

Seriously, I imagine Randy would be offended by my assessment. In his mind he is talented actor. In his mind was just having some fun breaking into his old house… But it is not just Randy Quaid. We all justify our actions, our lives. We dream that we are better than we actually live. We each assume we are the good friend, the one who can keep a secret, the person who will stand up defend our friends… We play memories to prove our worth, but now a study shows we can not even trust our memories…**

Thankfully we are not the one who judges. And the Judge is not so concerned with what you did yesterday, but with what you will do now. There is no need to rehash old victories or to feel guilty over old sins. No matter where you are in life Christ is calling you to new life. Even for the guy who once broke into his old house, there is nothing to fear. Because today Christ is preparing a new place for us to reside. And His reality is the only one we must remember!

**Being able to doubt our memories is not always a bad thing. I have a crazy one of my little brother letting earth worm crawl (or do worms wiggle?) all over his body… which is kind of creepy (maybe they creep?). Thankfully my whole family has told me I am nuts, because that never happened.

Which is good for you, too, because the worm guy is going to be our speaker at Advance in October.