walking slow
and reading scripture
dear friends,
Toddlers are adorably inefficient.
They are very slow walkers—constantly pointing at everything from a leaf on the ground. To an ant. To the ubiquitous sand stuck between their toes.
It gets slower. Sometimes they stop using their feet altogether. The other day, smol nephew dropped down on both knees and proceeded to shuffle across the floor. For a solid two minutes.
It gets even slower. Sometimes they decide to attach themselves to your leg like a symbiotic barnacle on a whale.
Sometimes I wonder if hanging out with a toddler is a bit like hanging out with Jesus. Hear me out. Jesus wasn’t particularly efficient. He usually didn’t do things in the way people thought he ought to. He was unhurried. Jesus pointed at things. And, instead of being straightforward, proceeded to speak in parables and poetry. The Kingdom of God is like. . .
I will stop the comparison now before I get scolded for heresy, but you get the idea. All this to say, I like hanging out with people who help me like hanging out with Jesus better. Grateful that little ones do that especially well.
a few things on my mind:
a playlist
over the weekend, I binge-watched BibleProject’s 5-minute video series on How to Read the Bible. I love nerding out on the variety of genres that make up Scripture. The one takeaway for me: the Bible is expertly crafted as meditation literature, to be read and re-read across a lifetime for formation, not merely information.
a quote
from Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book:
Reading the Scriptures is not an activity discrete from living the gospel, but one integral to it. It means letting Another have a say in everything we are saying and doing. It is as easy as that. And as hard.
a prayer
from Practicing the Way. To remind us that we’re not just reading about Jesus, but we’re reading with Jesus:
As I open the Scriptures now,
I pause to be still;
to breathe slowly;
to reset my scattered senses upon the presence of God.
be well, friends! walk slow this week!
love,
reb
As always, love these thoughts.
This is the first year I've tried to tackle the "read through the Bible in a year" schedule, and it has been such a blessing.
I've been doing it via audio, because my brain chemistry doesn't like to be forced into physically reading things sometimes (which is why I've never successfully done the schedule before), even when they are good and beautiful things that I actively *want* to read...so I'm very grateful for the podcast I found that goes through the readings every day.
i love listening to the bible via audio too!!! been doing that for a few years and this year trying out literally reading aloud / muttering it to myself hehe as i also struggle sometimes to just sit properly to read 🤭