For Such a Time as This July 28, 2020 - Karen Haldeman
To the Good Folk of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren,
Joys and Concerns
If you have a joy or concern you would like us to share and pray about, please call, text or email it to me. If you would like it included in our Sunday Worship sharing and prayer time, please share it with me that week by Friday morning.
Pray for:
Cindy Weatherholtz requests prayer for the great nephew of a friend from work. Ryder, 4 years old, was just diagnosed with a type of brain cancer that is not curable. He is in treatment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Prayers for his family, his mom Jenna, his dad Toby and his two brothers that are not much older than Ryder.
Thank You:
To all who call others to check in on them and share our emails and devotions.
Today’s Devotion:
I am thankful to Karen Haldeman for providing today’s devotion. If you wish to respond to Karen directly, her email address is kbhaldeman@verizon.net.
Shalom,
Dennis
Scripture – Deuteronomy 6:7-9 (CEV)
Tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you’re at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning. Write down copies and tie them to your wrists and foreheads to help you obey them. Write these laws on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates.
Thoughts
Recently I’ve been feeling at loose ends, unsettled, and unsure of the way forward with a couple personal situations. And the current unsettledness in the broader culture seems to amplify my own. Within this context, the idea of “holy wandering” or peregrinatio has repeatedly come to mind. So, I thought I’d share some thoughts about that in a devotional…and then I remembered that I already did! Apparently, I need to read that devotional again.
How soon we need to be re-reminded of lessons we think we’ve already learned. And how hard it is to be patient with ourselves in the learning process. It seems to me that the writer of Deuteronomy understood this part about being human. The verses above appear just after a re-telling of the Ten Commandments in the previous chapter (the commandments also appear in Exodus 20). We are encouraged to talk about those holy instructions over and over, any time of the day or night, wherever we are. (In fact, the grammatical construction includes imperatives, which suggest something stronger than “encouraged.”)
As any parent or teacher knows, sometimes it takes a lot of repeating for an idea to really sink in. I think that’s what we can learn from these verses. Reminding ourselves over and over (and over) helps the idea to become easier to put into practice. A number of years ago, I wanted to keep a new idea in the front of my memory, so I wrote it on a piece of paper and kept it in my pocket; throughout the day when I reached into my pocket, I touched the paper, which reminded me of the new idea. Some people tie a string around a finger to remember something, or make lists, or wear a cross necklace. In some Jewish homes, there is a mezuzah next to the door frame; it’s a small case with a scripture verse inside, and it serves as a reminder of the verse every time someone leaves the house.
Remembering is an important key to personal growth and discipleship. What is something you want to remember more often? What tricks do you use to remind yourself of it?
Prayer of Remembering
(from John Phillip Newell’s book Praying with the Earth; selections)
It is when we are still that we know.
It is when we listen that we hear.
It is when we remember
that we see your light, O God…
Grant us to remember you at the heart of each moment.
Grant us to remember.
Joys and Concerns
If you have a joy or concern you would like us to share and pray about, please call, text or email it to me. If you would like it included in our Sunday Worship sharing and prayer time, please share it with me that week by Friday morning.
Pray for:
Cindy Weatherholtz requests prayer for the great nephew of a friend from work. Ryder, 4 years old, was just diagnosed with a type of brain cancer that is not curable. He is in treatment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Prayers for his family, his mom Jenna, his dad Toby and his two brothers that are not much older than Ryder.
Thank You:
To all who call others to check in on them and share our emails and devotions.
Today’s Devotion:
I am thankful to Karen Haldeman for providing today’s devotion. If you wish to respond to Karen directly, her email address is kbhaldeman@verizon.net.
Shalom,
Dennis
Scripture – Deuteronomy 6:7-9 (CEV)
Tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you’re at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning. Write down copies and tie them to your wrists and foreheads to help you obey them. Write these laws on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates.
Thoughts
Recently I’ve been feeling at loose ends, unsettled, and unsure of the way forward with a couple personal situations. And the current unsettledness in the broader culture seems to amplify my own. Within this context, the idea of “holy wandering” or peregrinatio has repeatedly come to mind. So, I thought I’d share some thoughts about that in a devotional…and then I remembered that I already did! Apparently, I need to read that devotional again.
How soon we need to be re-reminded of lessons we think we’ve already learned. And how hard it is to be patient with ourselves in the learning process. It seems to me that the writer of Deuteronomy understood this part about being human. The verses above appear just after a re-telling of the Ten Commandments in the previous chapter (the commandments also appear in Exodus 20). We are encouraged to talk about those holy instructions over and over, any time of the day or night, wherever we are. (In fact, the grammatical construction includes imperatives, which suggest something stronger than “encouraged.”)
As any parent or teacher knows, sometimes it takes a lot of repeating for an idea to really sink in. I think that’s what we can learn from these verses. Reminding ourselves over and over (and over) helps the idea to become easier to put into practice. A number of years ago, I wanted to keep a new idea in the front of my memory, so I wrote it on a piece of paper and kept it in my pocket; throughout the day when I reached into my pocket, I touched the paper, which reminded me of the new idea. Some people tie a string around a finger to remember something, or make lists, or wear a cross necklace. In some Jewish homes, there is a mezuzah next to the door frame; it’s a small case with a scripture verse inside, and it serves as a reminder of the verse every time someone leaves the house.
Remembering is an important key to personal growth and discipleship. What is something you want to remember more often? What tricks do you use to remind yourself of it?
Prayer of Remembering
(from John Phillip Newell’s book Praying with the Earth; selections)
It is when we are still that we know.
It is when we listen that we hear.
It is when we remember
that we see your light, O God…
Grant us to remember you at the heart of each moment.
Grant us to remember.
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