Notes from the Journey

Religion

February 26, 2010

Words on our walls

Anonymous WEATHERFORD DEMOCRAT The Weatherford Democrat Fri Feb 26, 2010, 05:30 AM CST

The Old Testament book of Deuteronomy pictures the aged Moses addressing Israel as they prepared to cross into the Promised Land under the new leadership of Joshua. In a lengthy speech (34 chapters) reminding them of what God had taught them on their wilderness journey, Moses insisted that their destiny depended on them remembering those lessons for ages to come.

Above all, Moses said, they must remember this command: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:4-5).

To ensure they would not forget these crucial words, one of Moses’ commands was to “write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (v.9). This mandate led to the time-honored custom of attaching a small capsule containing the “Shema” to the facing of the front door of Jewish homes. What a vivid prompter!

In a way it reminds me of our house and what’s on its walls. Being folk who treasure words “fitly spoken,” there are over two dozen different quotations displayed in our eight rooms.

A door-knocker on the porch by the front door welcomes our visitors with the blessing: “Peace to all who enter here.”

As I write this column, on the wall to my left is a small plaque containing the words of Albert Schweitzer: “Some times our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.” Where would I be without those who have loved me back to life?

A framed Mary Engelbreit card by one of our many bookcases proclaims: “A book is a present you can open again and again.” We have almost more of those renewable gifts than the house can hold!

And lest I get housebound at the computer or buried in a book, Walt Whitman’s framed observation calls me outdoors: “Now I see the secret of making the best persons, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.”

A small magnetic sign on my filing cabinet asks an intriguing question, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?”

Over the dresser in the guest bedroom, where Callie Brown’s quilt is folded on the foot of the bed, are these restful words, “Those who sleep under a quilt sleep under a blanket of love.”

As we leave our house by the front door, John Claypool’s benediction blesses us: “Depart now in the fellowship of God the Father, and as you go, remember: In the goodness of God you were born into this world; by the grace of God you have been kept all the day long, even unto this hour; and by the love of God, fully revealed in the face of Jesus, you are being redeemed. Amen.”

The words on our walls remind us and our guests of what is inscribed in our hearts.

Lord, thank you for words to live by — on our walls, but especially in our hearts. Amen.

u

John Paul Carter’s “Notes from the Journey” appear in the Democrat’s Religion page on the second and fourth Fridays of each month. Carter, an ordained minister who attends Central Christian Church, may be contacted by writing him at 107 Bent Oak Road, Weatherford, 76086.

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