A New Commandment

My friend Phillip has written a reflection for Maundy Thursday. You can read it here.

Kids These Days

A wise professor of mine once observed that, if the discussion leader is not careful, most Bible studies and adult Sunday school class devolve into hemming and hawing about "kids these days."

I think he is exactly right.

This speaks to the larger sinful tendency we have: pointing out the sins of others before dealing with our own.

What if, instead of discussing "kids these days," we dealt with our own sin and began with questions like, "How does this text invite me to repent?"

Log out of our own eye first... then the speck of sawdust out of our neighbor's, as it were.

[And, yes, I am aware of the irony of this post.]

Facebook Forgiveness

Ever had to "re-friend" a friend you had "de-friended" on Facebook? It can be awkward at best (not to mention the grammatical conundrums such verbs present).

I confess to having done this. Usually it is because I am simply gleaning my "friends" list and delete a few here and there. Every once in a while, it is because the person posts to much (I am also guilty of this).

In every case, when I want to add them back in as a friend, it involves a good does of humility on my part. What if they are offended? What if they won't take me back? What if....?

But in almost every case, they consent to my friend request and, I presume, they forgive me.

What if that is the kind of forgiveness that we are called to practice?

Scripture by Memory

I have always thought of memorizing Scripture in mostly positive terms. Even when my own practice was spotty at best, it seemed to me an inherently good thing to do. I have been reading through Scripture by Heart by Joshua Choonmin Kang, who has prompted me to think more deeply about the many benefits of memorizing Scripture. Even when he raises something I've considered before, he does so in a way that deepens or expands my understanding.

However, I have bristled when well-meaning Christians have used their treasure-trove of memorized verses as blunt instruments to proof-text their way to "winning" a theological argument. And I have struggled to break--or at least reshape--a strong resistance to memorization among catechism students. I think Rich Melheim is on the right track by integrating Bible verses, singing and American Sign Language in his Bible Song curriculum.

Recently I have reclaimed Scripture memorization as a family (rather than individual) practice and have found it to be quite delightful. Yes, it has actually been delightful.

On the Sunday of the Transfiguration, we began as a family working together on a verse each week from the Sunday lectionary readings. We carefully choose a verse central to the theme of the day, usually from the Gospel reading. This serves a number of functions:

1) It binds us together as a family under God's word.

2) It binds the rhythms of Monday - Saturday to Sunday worship.

3) It binds our spirits, bodies and God's word together in an organic unity.

What have been your experiences memorizing Scripture? What you have you found helpful?