Thought for Today
Deuteronomy 8:19 If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.
Ezekiel 40:38 A room with a doorway was by the portico in each of the inner gateways, where the burnt offerings were washed. (NIV)
Mark 11:4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. (NIV)
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
I usually read and quote from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) simply because it is the suggested translation for both the denominations I serve. I cited the verses above from the New International Version (NIV) to highlight one specific word, “doorway.” I did so because my Thoughts today are shaped by two different email conversations from yesterday.
The first was an email I received from the Area Conference Minister of the UCC. He regularly communes with the ministers under his charge. Yesterday his note spoke about “the doorway effect.” He wrote, “If you’ve ever walked into another room and forgot why you came in, you’ve experienced the doorway effect. . . There is something about crossing boundaries and thresholds which interfere with our short-term memory and causes us to forget something we just did or said. Most interestingly: Studies have replicated the effect utilizing both physical and metaphorical boundaries.”
It appears that it is not merely a function of the aging process. It is not something unique to me . . . or you, or all of those ‘others’ who can’t seem to remember things from one moment to the next. I think I have found a new, favorite excuse!
The other conversation is the one about which I wrote yesterday and which continued later in the day. She had initially responded to my earlier question “who was the navigator” among the disciples. After yesterday’s Thoughts, she emailed me about my comments concerning reading the Bible. I wrote, “The Bible is a book about God, a book about our Creator, God’s Creation, our place in that Creation and our relationship with our Creator. Start to finish, Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is all about God.” She has now challenged herself to read through the Bible.
Have you ever read through the Bible? Have you read from Genesis 1:1 through to Revelation 22:21? I have previously mentioned the Bible study program titled The Bible in 90 Days. I never read the Bible cover-to-cover in 3 months. Each time I have undertaken the ‘task,’ I have set a goal of 1 chapter each day. If the chapters are short, I read more. If they are long, I might take more time; or, if I find the verses of special interest, I take more time. But, I am deliberate and consistent in setting aside the time each day.
Many years ago, I was on a discussion panel with the developer of The Bible in 90 Days. He shared his life transformation resulting from his own reading of the Bible. He had been an atheist, but decided to read what he claimed not to believe. He finished Revelation 22:21 a Christian. The Bible transforms lives. Reading the inspired Word of God changes lives.
Our Area Conference Minister conveyed his own use of the doorway effect, “These are the moments in which the doorway effect is a spiritual blessing. Whether it’s physically getting up and walking away from my desk and into a different space or closing my eyes and imagining myself stepping across the threshold into something new, I try to use the doorway effect to allow God to invite me into a different headspace.”
Doorways are important in life. We can enter into new experiences through the doorways of our lives. We can exit from other experiences, other situations through the doorways in our lives. Jews, Moslems and Christians can use their respective holy scriptures as doorways to enter into a new, deeper and richer relationship with God.
Whether you choose to read the entire Bible or some subset of that marvelous book, do so deliberately and faithfully . . . but do it! Enter through that doorway into the presence of the Creator, into the Creator’s creation, into the loving relationship the Creator offers to each of us. As I write this, once again the words of In the Garden ring in my mind, speaking of God “And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own.” Christians, in reading the New Testament, can enter another doorway, “Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Stay safe, enter God’s doorway, trust God,
Pastor Ray