It also said the Qur'an is approximately as long as the New Testament.
After doing a miniscule amount of research, I discovered this is a pretty common practice for Muslims. The Wikipedia page said it is estimated that there are tens of millions people alive today who have memorized the Qur'an.
Wow.
Amazing.
And super cool.
This is honestly something I had never thought about before.
So, of course, I had to look up "memorizing the Bible". You get all sorts of flippant opinions on the matter -- from "Why in the world would you do that?" and "Pointless!" to steps on how to do it.
Wouldn't that be cool? To memorize the Bible? Or the New Testament? Or entire books of the Bible?
Sounds like a challenge.
I like it.
 |
| SHEN Ling, "The Bible Reading Girl"，Oil on Canvas，1995 |
What a way to meditate on scripture night and day . . . to write it on your hearts and minds . . . to be constantly in God's Word . . . to carry it around without carrying anything at all . . . to dive so deeply into scripture that it's engraved -- imprinted -- steeped in your soul . . . to be able to breathe out scripture every time air escapes your mouth . . . to have a ready companion at all times . . . to have words to teach your children every step of the day.
Cool.
I think I might try it.
Not the whole thing -- I'm a bit too realistic for that.
But maybe a whole book. Wouldn't that be awesome?
I'd start with Mark. That one just lends easily to memorizing -- because of its very nature -- its urgency and immediacy and action.
Last night, as I was slipping into sleep, I memorized the first three verses. It was absolutely lovely to drift off whispering God's Word --
to hear God's voice in a different way --
to breathe it in and exhale it out --
to listen to familiar words over and over until new meaning and new questions and new thoughts arose.
What a beautiful practice.
What a gift.
 |
| Hugues Merle's The Orphans -- Reading The Bible |
Holy whispers . . . wondrous awe.
No comments:
Post a Comment