Manasseh means the forgetter or one that makes to forget. Manassites as a people tend to be forgetful or want to forget the past. They use this tendency to forge ahead into the future without baggage, without regrets, without grudges, and without gripes. They feel that it is time to start again with a new slate. They can also be so forgetful that they fail to learn the lessons of the past and thus become doomed to repeat very painful experiences. They can be so eager to latch onto any new and exciting thing that they do not consider the wisdom of the past or the restraining voice of experience or even the traditional common sense that provides necessary boundaries. America is foundering in a deep sea of forgetfulness. Most notably and tragically Americans have forgotten God and the eternal values of His Word. Americans have forgotten their founding fathers and their founding documents. Americans have forgotten the nation's history. Manasseh's forgetfulness has become America's great shortcoming leading to intense iniquity and perversion.

Time inevitably feels as though it moves faster with each passing year, and this fleeting nature of memory becomes a fitting starting point for examining how forgetfulness affects the spiritual walk. Just as married couples often tease one another about forgotten plans or details, memory issues are universal and unavoidable, yet they carry serious implications for the relationship with God. Cognitive atrophy parallels muscle atrophy: mental faculties, including memory, weaken when not exercised. Since daily routines, work, and skills all depend on memory, whatever receives the most mental energy—often work—can cause other areas, including faith, to be neglected. This is not a flaw but part of how God designed the mind to function efficiently, since He did not create limitless memory storage. Beyond simple disuse, psychologist Kendra Cherry identifies four causes of forgetting: forgetting by decay (memory traces fading without retrieval, though some memories remain stable even unused), forgetting by interference (new memories, such as a changed door code, displacing old ones through proactive and retroactive interference), forgetting by failure to store (only essential details being retained, as shown by people's inability to recall the exact features of a common penny), and motivated forgetting (consciously suppressing or unconsciously repressing painful memories to cope with trauma). Additional influences such as alcohol, depression, lack of sleep, medication, stress, and age further compound these natural tendencies. These realities demonstrate that forgetting is a serious obstacle requiring active effort to overcome, especially since one of the most dangerous forms of forgetting is losing sight of God's presence and power. This is not a new struggle; the Israelites exhibited a persistent "Spiritual Alzheimer's," prompting Moses in Deuteronomy 8:11-19 to warn them not to forget the Lord after receiving prosperity, lest they attribute their blessings to their own strength and face destruction. Spiritual Israel today faces the same susceptibility. Despite Israel's repeated failures, they remained held in God's hand, a concept illustrated by professional golfer Scotty Scheffler's reflection on faith—moving from anxiously clinging to God to trusting that God carries all weight. Yet this trust must not become an excuse for passivity, as some believers wrongly conclude they need not actively participate in their relationship with God. While salvation cannot be earned, James 4:8 commands drawing near to God, an action requiring effort. Failing to exercise the mind and the relationship with God risks drifting out of His hand, even though nothing can forcibly remove one from it. The remedy for forgetfulness is simple yet requires consistent practice: reminding oneself of God's works through praise, as modeled in Psalm 105:1-6, which commands remembering His marvelous deeds and singing His praises—something fulfilled even through congregational hymns. This is not mere tradition but a command benefiting believers directly. Allowing mental and spiritual slackness opens the door for drifting away, a danger that Satan exploits but which ultimately rests on personal responsibility. As illustrated in Luke 8:15, bearing fruit with patience requires holding onto God's Word with a noble and good heart, ensuring that God is never forgotten among life's closest relationships.