![]() She also discusses deconstruction, Christian Nationalism, and cultural baggage attached to faith. Kate Boyd talks with Word&Way President Brian Kaylor about her new book An Untidy Faith: Journeying Back to the Joy of Following Jesus. There’s only so much room at the inn as we’ll learn as we head into Christmas. My hope is that we can continue to memorize what really matters and let go of all the trivial things. It’s November, the month for thanksgiving and expressing gratitude in all things. It’s what I want to roll off the tongue as easily as the lyrics of my favorite ‘80s jams. While facts and figures are great, what I really need to hear most in my life is the unconditional love of my Father on repeat, plus strong reminders of how I am to love others in this world. Yet, I’m often inclined to put work into so many other things - remembering grocery lists, reciting the newest pop song, or rehashing the record of the Kansas City Chiefs. Of all the things to remember in this world, I think God’s love letters to us are at the top of the list. In October, I worked on Isaiah 40:8: “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever.” I’ve also been touched by how I’ve needed that exact verse in my life and how pondering it over and over has been so fruitful. It turns out you can teach an old dog new tricks. For the last year, I’ve memorized scriptures more easily than I thought I could. Each month, they send a scripture card, key chain tag, and three temporary tattoos to work on memorizing a verse for the month. She would later turn that vision into a company, Dwell Differently, to help others memorize scripture through a simple visual, mnemonic tool. Temporary tattoos can help memorize scripture. When she would compete, she would write a scripture verse in Sharpie on her body, so she could stay focused on the bigger picture. I got busy memorizing and, even to this day, it rolls right off the tongue and still make me crave sugar.Ībout a year ago, I was reading a story about Vera Neuenswander Schmitz, who is from Jefferson City, Missouri, and was an Olympic hopeful and three-time All-American pole vaulter. A family friend had watched a game show where the person used a rhyme for naming all the apostles and won big money, so every time I visited her I would get a piece of candy if I recited it from memory. I did manage to memorize the names of the twelve apostles, but it was more about candy than spiritual aptitude. ![]() She’s a saint.ĭuring my formative years, I didn’t memorize a lot of scriptures. Or perhaps it’s too full of ‘80s and ‘90s song lyrics I believed were life-changing at the time, so I memorized each and every word in my bedroom … out loud … night after night. We get bombarded by more than 5,000 messages a day, which is wild to think about. It could be there’s just no more room at the inn (aka, my brain).
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