PERFECT RECALL

“Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 11:18-19 (NKJV)

A melody plays in my mind—too distant to capture. I’m a young girl standing beside my grandmother in church. Her eyes are fixed upon the altar as she sings from memory. Some of the people around us are doing the same. Utterly amazed, I turn back to The Book of Common Prayer resting open on the pew in front of me, search for my place, and raise my voice in song.

There are so many questions I wish I would have asked her. What did those words mean to you as you were singing them? Did they touch your heart? Did you fall so much more in love with Him as they flowed from your lips? Were they like raindrops settling on the tip of your tongue soothing your every hurt?

Most days, I’m at a loss—unable to see behind the eyes of others worshipping around me to know if they’re filled with joy or overwhelmed by burdens. I’m blind to everything except my own relationship with the Savior. But I know He’s present with all of us. He knows what’s taking place in every heart and mind.

His words are life.

Father God, let Your words rain down on us like manna from heaven and make the journey from our mind to our heart so that we might grow closer to Thee.

© 2019 Amy A. Verzi