Learning By Heart

Do you remember memorizing things when you were growing up? Poems, Bible verses, songs? There is a difference when we memorize things and when we learn them by heart. To learn something by heart, we let it become a part of who we are, we know it deeply and it shapes how we respond in the world  What are verses, phrases, or stories that you know by heart? How does that help in your daily life?

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Welcome to season four of Faith in the Cracks. I'm Pastor Karen Wright. Life has cracks, moments between activities, places where we feel fractured. This is the space where we listen for God in the ordinary moments of life, where we are reminded that just as cracks let things in, it's a space for light and love to shine through. So just like plants grow in the cracks of a sidewalk, let faith grow in the cracks of our lives, trusting that God is at work within us. Episode 10. Learning by heart. For many of us growing up in school, we probably had to memorize poems. Or if you grew up in the church that you memorized scripture verses or hymns. And I wonder if you've ever memorized something, learned something by rote, can you still recite it decades later? Because I think there's a real difference in memorizing something and learning something by heart. To memorize, we've put it into our brains. But when we learn something by heart, we embody it. It's something that becomes a part of who we are. And it may begin as rote memorization, but it becomes something that shapes you, that helps form your responses, that helps you with wisdom and discernment. It helps you in times of trouble. I think of having visited many people in the hospital, and particularly older people who know the King James Version of the 23rd Psalm by heart, or knowing verses of amazing grace. And they are part of what is with us, and in times of distress, they are things that come back. One that comes to mind for me frequently is though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death from the 23rd Psalm. And it's that reminder of going through the valley, that we don't get stuck there. And that is part of the amazingness within scripture is that God's word is to be written on our hearts. It is to be part of who we are. It's lived experience. And in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 31, God says, I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts. And I think sometimes we think that maybe we know something, but we don't put it deeply within us. And so I wonder in this culture of instant access to information, that there's Bible apps and there's Google, and you can pull out your iPhone or your smartphone and you can search it up. I know my nine-year-old sometimes asks to say, well, just search that up. And we have this instant access. And I wonder sometimes if we have forgotten what it means to embody wisdom, what it means to embody parts of culture. I wonder what we've lost having lost a storytelling culture. And in Celtic spirituality, I think that was all coming out of an oral tradition. And I think the Bible was an oral tradition for so long before it was ever written down. What have we lost because we don't do that? What is the wisdom? What is the embodied knowledge that helps us with those repeated blessings, those memorized prayers, knowing the rhythm that goes with it and feeling it within ourselves? Because sometimes we have to know it, like truly know it beyond just rote memorization to live it. And so I wonder what within you have you learned by heart? Maybe it's as simple as Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so. And maybe that's the peace that we carry with us. And maybe there's others. So I invite you this week to think about what are things you have learned by heart. Learned so deeply that you embody them in your daily life. Until next time. Thanks for listening. New podcasts are released every Monday. If you like the show, share it with a friend, or scroll to the bottom of the episode description and support the show for the cost of a cup of coffee once a month. You can also check out my webpage at faithinthecracks.com. As you go through your week, remember you are a child of God and you are love. May God seep into the cracks and bring forth new life.