The Spiritual Village

I wonder at times how it all happened.  How did all those Biblical verses and stories get so ingrained in my spirit?  What I often think is that so much of our awareness of the Biblical truth comes to us through osmosis.  Maybe that is what mothers do.  They make sure their children sit in places where the Bible is being taught and preached until it soaks in when no one is paying attention.  Of course, fathers can do it, too, but for some reasons so many of us remember our mothers as strong spiritual influences in the home.  

But. it does not happen by their efforts alone.  It is said that it takes a village to raise a child and a child with the benefit of a good village is blessed indeed.  As most of us remember our spiritual village, we remember Sunday School teachers, Vacation Bible School volunteers, youth leaders, preachers, and the ordinary folks who sat in the pew with such a faithful spirit Sunday after Sunday.  Some stirred our souls with their witness while others tussled our hair to encourage us.  Some spoke; some modeled.  Both pointed us to Jesus.  

None of grew up in some Bible School where what to believe was pounded into our heads from one day to another.  Neither were we denied the normal experiences of growing up that were filled with both pleasure and pain.  Instead, if we grew up within a spiritual village, we were loved.  We were on someone's prayer list.  We were respected.  We understood what it was to have others believe in us.  The Christians in our spiritual village were not perfect.  Sometimes they let us down; sometimes they made mistakes.  But, they were there.  They kept their lives pointed toward a life of faith and they did what they could to keep us on course as well.  It is our inheritance and what we have to pass to the next generation.