The Horse to Water

One of the amazing things about memories is that there are so many of them lurking around in the old gray matter.  It is curious what prompts some of them to come to the surface after decades of being invisible and alive only as something forgotten.  A friend who shared an important memory in her life caused me to think about something I have not thought about in years and years.  While some memories we might wish could be forgotten, even those have a way of lingering.  Perhaps, memories are not just images that hang around in the recesses of our subconscious, but gifts from God.

 

When I was exploring the teenage years, I lived in Alamo, Georgia.  My Dad was the pastor at the local Methodist Church.  Every Sunday night the youth of the church gathered for Methodist Youth Fellowship, or MYF as it was known.  At the conclusion of each session we all gathered in a circle and spoke into existence a prayer from Numbers. 6:24-26:  "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord makes His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace."  While I do not remember if I actually knew it was from the Old Testament, I do know it became such a part of my spiritual life that it has not been forgotten.

 

I have always been a big believer in the power of spiritual osmosis.  Some things are received not because we set out to receive them; instead, we receive them in an inadvertent way through a kind of soaking.  Being soaked with spiritual stuff when I was growing up certainly did not hurt me.  There were times when I was not paying attention and there were other times when my rebellious spirit refused to give credibility to what I was hearing.  Nonetheless, I was soaking up more than I realized at the time.  And while everyone's experience cannot be like mine, I have always been a big fan of bringing the horse to water.