Remembering

             Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.” (Exodus 17:14) 

            When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. (Deuteronomy 17:18)

 

            The topic of remembering what has gone before – or remembering what we have learned – wouldn’t be complete without a discussion of writing things to remember them. There are two aspects of writing or journaling. Generally, I have advocated one of them – the recording of thoughts and ideas for future reference. I tend to do this at my computer, and I always intend to go back through and read and/or index what I’ve written.

            But the other part of journaling is interacting with the words and ideas. There is something about actually hand-writing this stuff, which I don’t do. It brings  you closer to the words.  You are producing them, they’re not just appearing on the screen. It slows you down. This is something discovered about self-talking as well.It may be helpful to listen to someone of dulcet tones saying the truth we’re trying to build into ourselves. It’s another – more effective – thing when we hear our own voice saying the truth. It’s even more powerful when we are hearing ourselves say it at the moment. The more we involve ourselves with the ideas and images involved, the stronger the connection is.

             Part of the Law was that the leaders of Israel were to write out a copy of the Law for themselves. It’s been said that a mission statement should be so simple – and so internalized – that if someone woke you in the middle of the night with a gun to your head and demanded that you tell them your mission, you would be able to do so. This means that you, physically forming the letters, will drive the ideas deeper.

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