Deuteronomy 11 | Wayfarer

You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 11:18-19 (NRSV)

I remember as a child going to spend a week with my grandparents in Le Mars. Mom would take me to the Greyhound bus station in Des Moines and put me on a bus, telling me to sit right behind the driver (where he could keep an eye on me, no doubt) and I would make the long bus ride to Sioux City where my grandparents would be waiting to shuttle me back to their house.

Staying with grandpa and grandma in the small town of Le Mars was a treat. I got to walk “uptown” to explore the shops on Central Avenue. I would be grandpa’s guest at Lion’s Club and we would play Canasta for hours on end.

Once a day, after we ate our meal, Grandpa would get out his Bible and a devotional called The Upper Room. He would read the Bible verse for the day and then read the short devotional thought for that day before offering a short prayer. It did not take long, and to this day I can’t recall any of the actual words or thoughts that were shared. Nevertheless, the simple act of doing it made an indelible impression on me.

Today, I’m thinking about God’s command through Moses not only to ingest and embody His words but also to pass them along to your children. I remember Grandpa reading the upper room after lunch. I recall the daily experience of waking for school and descending the stairs to find my father sitting in his chair, Bible open on his lap as he read and prayed. These things weren’t rigid religious disciplines demanded of us like some kind of cruel and inhuman punishments. They were simple habits simply exemplified which made an indelible impression on a child’s impressionable heart.

I pray that I have been faithful in carrying on the example for our children. I hope for the day when our grandchildren come for the week to the small town of Pella to explore the square and to be Grandpa and Grandma’s special guest so that I may continue to make an impression passed through the generations.

Couple walk in silhouette on Morro Strand Stat... — Image by mikebaird via Flickr

Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night. Inscribe them on the doorposts and gates of your cities so that you’ll live a long time, and your children with you, on the soil that God promised to give your ancestors for as long as there is a sky over the Earth. Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (MSG)

Throughout my journey I’ve lived in many places both large and small. I’ve been involved in churches both large and small representing many different traditions. I’ve experienced many conflicts and church schisms from theological debates to leadership issues to silly arguments unworthy of comment.

The other day a friend and I were discussing a church conflict and I realized that this conflict, which had many people up in arms, was not something I cared that much about. Sure, I had my own thoughts, perceptions, and opinions, which I shared honestly, but it did not really affect my Life-journey or my own interpersonal relationship with God. It was not that huge of a deal for me.

As I read today’s chapter and the command to weave God’s Message into every part of your every day life, it brought to mind my conversation about the conflict at church. It reminded me of why I really have little concern about it. If I were to list and prioritize all of the things that sincerely matter to me in my spiritual journey and my relationship with God the weekly church service would be very low on the priority list. More critical to me is the time each morning I spend alone with God’s Message and writing these posts, the moments of praying the hours each day, the impromptu spiritual conversations I have with Wendy, the daily and weekly phone calls, coffee time, and happy hour I have with dear friends who are walking the journey with me, and the Christ-centered dinner conversations with friends and family. Mess with anything on that list and I will be gravely concerned. Conflicts at church, however, affect me very little.

This Life-journey with God is a 24/7/365 adventure. It doesn’t happen in an hour on Sunday morning and a weekly church service was never intended to be the destination. If I can contain my faith in a small compartment of my life then I can be sure that what I have is a cheap-imitation of the Life-journey God designed and calls us to walk. God’s Message tells us to number our days that we may have a heart of wisdom. God does not ask us to tally Sundays or church services. The emphasis is what happens each and ever day, not what happens once a week.