thinking about ...

"We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private; and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship." 

~ C.S. Lewis The Weight of Glory

It's the beginning of May, and I still haven't finished my reading list for January-April.  Granted, it's been a season of change, moving, and newness so I won't be too hard on myself(!).

In one of the books I'm reading, the author is conveying the message that we don't memorize things like we (humans) used to.  Before "books" were ever a household item, text was written on scrolls, there were no indexes/chapters/page numbers, and very few copies of each book were print.  Scholars (or whoever could read them) would familiarize and memorize much of the script just so they could reference to what they had read at a later date.  Much of the Bible was memorized.

The author also points out that, in today's society, when we read things, nothing is memorized because we can "conveniently" pick it up to read later.  So basically, we've trained ourselves to read but not absorb information (loosely speaking).  Of course, there are things we had to memorize in school and passages or the gists of a book's message that have stuck, but really ... not a whole lot more.

"Oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.  But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night." 

Psalm 1:1-2

"Study this Book of Instruction [Bible] continually.  Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.  Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do."

Joshua 1:8

We have such an awesome opportunity to take God's living Word, flood our minds and hearts with it's truth, and literally, sink our teeth into the goodness He wants to share with us.  All it takes is saturating our minds and meditating on the things He has spoken to us.

So that is my challenge for you (and me) ... to find a passage and cling to it today.  Write it down to read throughout the day.  Commit it to memory.  Spend a simple 10 minutes focusing on the words, the meaning, how it applies to your heart.

Only then will we "...prosper and succeed in all we do."


pic pix: thoughts in the clouds, 27.May.2013, at home