Ruminating the Word

In the last few days I have been remembering my own seminary days some fifty years ago and creating a hypothetical core curiculum for a seminary that does not exist.  If you say that old preacher needs a hobby, maybe there is some truth to the observation.  However, what has gotten started is still going on in my mind.  The first two courses in my core curiculum were "Being 101" and "Practicing the Practice of the Presence."  For those just now starting to read this blog, the previous two posts will offer a sort of syllabus for these courses which will not be repeated now.    

As can be seen, the first two courses are not about the head so much as the heart.  Maybe my course suggestions are going overboard on the heart side, but my recollection of seminary speaks to going overboard in the other direction.  So, the third course in this hypothetical curiculum is "Ruminating the Word."   A few cows keep us company here on the farm and from them many lessons have been learned.  One thing cows do is to break off grass while grazing, swallow the green stuff where it goes into one of their four stomachs, and then they lay down, regurtitate what has been swallowed and chew on it.  It is called chewing the cud.  It seems we need more chewing the cud when it comes to the Word.  Reading the Word of God is good, but we need to learn what it is to sit with it, chewing on it until it can become a part of what gives us life.  

"Ruminating the Word"  would be a course where the Bible would be studied in small chunks without the beneifit of commentaries or lectures telling the reader what to think.  Once again the course would only require a Bible, a spiral notepad, and a pen. The end result of the class would not be finding the right or wrong interpretation, but learning how to understand what God is seeking to say through the Word.  It is easy to figure out the right interpretation of a passage.  The more difficult thing is to train our mind and heart to sit and ruminate with a smaller passage until we hear the Voice of God.  The course would encourage those who hold the Word in their hands to chew on it until it becomes life giving.