I hope you've been reading Darlene's book Evidence Not Seen (see link on right). One of the recurring nudges for me in her story is how often memorized scripture is the way God speaks to her. In trials, i suffering, when circumstances her off guard - different passages come to mind that speak directly to the peace and joy God offers in no matter what she faces. The practice of memorizing scripture is a discipline common in previous generations of believers, but more foreign to mine - a generation that easily memorizes a thousand song lyrics but struggles to get one measly verse committed to memory.
I love a moment in The Long Winter when Laura Ingalls is at school. The teacher announces she'll begin the school day with readying the 23rd Psalm: Laura knew the Psalms by heart, of course, but she loved to hear again every word of the twenty-third, from "The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want" to "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Two page turns later, Laura's teacher is leading the children home through a sudden blizzard. The snow is so thick, they have no idea what's two inches in front of them and the air so icy, the children already feel sleepy as their bodies quickly begin to freeze. No doubt, this memorized Psalm and its promise that she would one day dwell in God's house forever gave her fortitude to continue searching for her own.
If you go to Westside, you've heard a lot about the Lectionary. We use a Presbyterian (no affiliation) lectionary, a daily Bible reading plan, to incorporate God's word into our daily life in a corporate way. It's available as an app, so it's easy to access. The idea is that instead of all doing our own thing - a common weakness in today's churches - we're all agreeing to do the same thing, thereby enhancing our unity when we're here, there and everywhere in between.
I love that way this habit has unified our family. We've been doing family Bible reading for a while now, and no matter what we did, it always fizzled. It was too long. It was too boring. It didn't fit with our schedule. Our needs changed and therefore our focus. If we read a book, we lost focus, didn't like the writing style, too deep, too light. If we read the Bible we'd get stuck in a book for what seemed like forever. We lost track of where we were. We chose scripture at random. It didn't fit with the church calendar, so we'd change and then it was all a jumble. It didn't fit with what we were doing on our own, etc. Can anyone else relate?
The lectionary changed that for four reasons:
1. It's conveniently on our phones and already prescribed. I don't have to think about it.
2. It suits our personalities by allowing for differences. I love reading the poetic prayers and responsive readings; my husband loves going straight to the Psalms.
3. It allows for failure. It's DAILY. How many of you started reading a daily Bible, missed a few weeks and were dismayed to find that a few weeks means your book mark is an inch behind "today's reading." Agh!! We don't play catch up if we miss, we just jump in where we are. If we don't nail it in the morning - we grab the evening. Sometimes we even manage it twice a day as intended.
4. It's not "our thing" - rather, it belongs to the church. We're conscious every time we read that we're not the only ones reading. I think of my friend Amy Carlson, reading with her coffee in the morning - no matter what state she's in. I think of Sue Knight, passing her phone to one of the kids and having them read aloud during the rush to school. I see the Vespers print outs when I leave the office on Tuesday and know they'll be sharing in the same responsive readings that my family will over supper.
Anyways, this is all a long introduction to my Ikea shopping trip. What else did I mean by "meatballs" than, of course, Ikea meatballs, mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce?! My 9mo and I found ourselves late last night picking up a few things at Ikea. Letting some traffic die down, we decided to eat there and - fingers crossed - my Little would fall asleep in the car (didn't happen). Sharing some meatballs in the Ikea cafeteria, a dozen RANARP pendants above our heads, I felt a need for centering. It was a busy day and a handful of threads ran through my brain - all unrooted. As other families had the who-assembles-the-furniture debate, I read the familiar words, "Stay with us Lord, for it is evening and the day is almost over." In my mind's eye, I saw all the other families who were beseeching God with the same words, not just Westsiders, but all the other traditions across America who over Ikea meatballs, homemade spaghetti, In and Out burgers, baseball snowcones and picked-from-the-garden salad had recited the same words. They're no longer just familiar words to me, they are memorized, ready and waiting for an evening when reciting this request is the difference between peace and turmoil.
This morning our reading started at the table, dirty plates between us and migrated as neccessary - ending up on the kitchen floor as Noah worked the Ikea assembly line and Lucy used me as a jungle gym. We read Psalm 116 and I stopped at another familiar verse: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His loved ones." We'd memorized this when Noah's mom passed away, and as we sat on the kitchen floor, I thought of a good friend whose just lost his father. I thought of all the other believers reading the same words and remembering those who've seen death. How good to know the passage of death is precious to our God! How surprising to come across it this morning as funeral music sifts through my mind! So, on our kitchen floor in the midst of a busy morning, we savored a holy moment. It wasn't quiet. It wasn't pretty. But it was miraculous. I moved on to Psalm 146, which is read every Wednesday, and loved hearing Noah's interjections here and there as he recited it where he could. After lots of false starts, we are becoming a family that KNOWS the word of God, has it committed to memory. Ready for God's use.
And so I look forward to more meatball moments with my daughter. Those daily moments that out of habit, invite God to speak to us. That root our day in His word and prepare us for whatever we face tomorrow. As Darlene knew so well, these are the words that are all the difference between peace and turmoil, joy and sorrow.
"Give us such joy in living and such peace in serving Christ, that we may gratefully make use of all your blessings."
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