What is this about? I thought retirement would be a life of leisure. It is, sort of, but I find I also need revival. So I will explore the most powerful tool I know to live well, with St. Luke as my guide.
Almost 40 years ago now, a class on the Gospels changed my life. First day, first thing, Dr. Thomas Boomershine sat down, looked at us, and recited nine stories from the Gospels. And then, over the course of the semester, required us also to memorize them. I went from indifference to the Gospels to fierce advocacy.
We talk about learning something “by heart” when we want to stress its importance, its becoming part of us.
Over time, I stopped Biblical memorization and storytelling. As a pastor, I had some opportunities. In worship every third year, I would recite the Passion narrative as Mark tells it. Occasionally I would tell Gospel stories from memory. But memorization was no longer my regular practice.
Now I wonder why. I retired a year ago with dozens of projects in mind. None have been completed. I thought I would be a writer, but I stumbled through a draft of a novel, which now lies fallow; so okay, that’s something. I help my wife with her balloon art; that’s good. I catch up on my reading. I gripe about politics.
There must be more. I feel adrift. Many of the tasks and timelines and requirements I had counted on have disappeared. The inevitable return of Sunday’s sermon has become evitable.
Well, Biblical memorization and storytelling revived me once before. I’m different now, and the world is different… I don’t need revival, really, but… but… this is a memoir-in-process now that I’ve started up again.
NOTES ON PROCESS
- I use the New Revised Standard Version for memorization. Occasionally I will substitute a word or phrase from a different version.
- I’ll post entries occasionally, not regularly.
- I will link through Facebook. I don’t use other social media much.
A note for the sake of transparency: I actually started this process a year ago, beginning with Luke, chapter 5, where I was reading at the time. I’ve been through the gospel once; laid down a primer coat of memory, so to speak. I may edit those entries into a book. But this blog is essentially a review of those notes, sometimes updated to reflect further thought.
Dave Raines, Writer 