Spiritual Soaking

When I was growing up, worship on Sunday was not an option.  It was mandatory.  Nothing short of being dead was an acceptable excuse for an absence.  While I pulled against the parental bit often, I nonetheless ended up in a weekly spiritual soaking which had lasting effect.  During these Sundays of soaking, I stood alongside of others and recited the things of the ritual like "The Apostle's Creed," through recitation learned "The Lord's Prayer," and ended up storing a library of hymns in my heart.  At the time I never realized what was happening while I was getting my mandatory weekly spiritual soaking.

 

What was happening was spiritual stuff was getting in despite all the barriers I had put up between myself and matters of the faith.  As I have moved away from those soaking years and entered the years which are closer to the end than the beginning, I have come to a deep appreciation for parents who gave me no choice about attending worship.  Through the discipline they imposed, I carry with me a theological manual, a prayer book, and a hymnal.  These spiritual resources are not on the printed page, but got memorized and saved when I was not paying much attention to it happening. 

 

I lament the fact that so many of today's young are growing up without the spiritual tools which have served the church through the centuries.  These spiritual tools have been replaced by a culture which has put aside things which are traditional for the sake of being contemporary.  Being trendy and current has replaced the ancient words of faith which have such lasting foundational powers.  I often wonder if the young of today are experiencing those soaking moments which will enable them to move through the dark moments which loom ahead in their lives even as they do in all our lives.