Infinite Impact.

Book Review.

Weber, Stu. Infinite Impact. Making the most of your place in God’s timeline. Tyndale House Pub. 2007.
S.W.-graduate from Wheaton with advanced degrees from Western Seminary. Is a pastor of a church in the Portland area.

Comment. Henry.
Our life-span, a relatively small portion of God’s time-line, is made up of many personal events. Stu helps us develop a proper appreciation of those events as they relate to our spiritual heritage and our future legacy. Scripture teaches very clearly about the importance of remembering times and events that were milestones in our spiritual journey. E.g. Israel’s history is replete with stories and monuments of such a record. We do well to pay attention to historical events that are part of our spiritual heritage. This book is relevant to all age groups.

We are impacted by the reality of time, past, present, and future. Out of our positive memories of the past come purpose and power. Reflection brings meaning to the present and hope for the future. There is something emotionally and spiritually healthy about returning to your roots. Remembering is not only a delightful option it is an awesome responsibility. To lose one’s memory is to cease being a person, re; quality of life. The exhortations in scripture to remember are basic to a healthy spiritual life. “There can be neither knowledge, nor arts, nor sciences without memory.” Isaac Watts. Thinking, reflecting, and acting are all involved in biblical remembering. “Remembering is central to God’s very being.” (43)

“Something powerful happens when someone makes the effort to note something significant in another’s time-line.” (64) “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” Jarolslav Pelikan. Life-shaping memories are usually associated with a place. The lack of such memories is caused by life in an extremely mobile, busy culture.

Markers on our time-line that will connect generations will probably be personal and should not be treated as trivia. The author recounts his own experience with his genealogy. This is suggested as an important activity. Judging by the amount of ink dedicated to them in scripture, God is into geneaology and we do well to consider ours. The significance of the meaning of names is discussed.

“You may not have come from a healthy family of origin, but by God’s grace and His strength, you can start one.” (161) The exercise of attempting to get a perspective of our time-line is a worthwhile one. That perspective will include the past, present and future. “Your nurtured memories are the baseline of the future. Both in this life, and the one to come. Remember.” (189) Our faith gives us confidence regarding the unknown of the future with its potential challenges. The end of our time-line will be the beginning of our eternity- at home.