In an effort to prepare for licensure with the Grace Brethren, I have been working on memorizing Scripture.  I’ve always just kid of absorbed Scripture incidentally, which has given me a lot of the Word in my heart but without address.  Heh.  Kind of like how people were before the invention of chapter and verse, hundreds of years ago.  But I digress.

I wanted to write a little about memorization.  Interesting trivia fact: the first piece of Scripture I memorized was NOT John 3:16!  Growing up in a home that didn’t put a high priority on God, it simply didn’t come up much.  In fact, my first memorized section of the Bible is also the longest I have ever memorized – and it came courtesy of Charles M. Schulz.

Yes, that’s right.  The creator of Peanuts.

He was actually a devout Christian, I have heard.  Whether or not that’s true, in his Christmas special, “It’s a Charlie Brown Christmas”, the question of the true meaning of Christmas comes up, and Linus, Lucy’s little brother recites Luke 2:8-14.  From the King James.  I watched that show so many times, that passage sank into my heart, and remains at the tip of my tongue.  It is a very poetic passage, recounting the angels announcing to the shepherds the arrival of the Messiah as an infant, and where he could be found.  Oh, to be a shepherd that night!  That would have been amazing!  Here it is, from memory:

And there were in the same country, shepherds – abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night, and lo – the angel of the Lord came upon them.  And the glory of the Lord shone ’round about them. And they were sore afraid, but the angel said unto them, “Fear not!  For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a saviour: which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you: ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a heavenly host praising God, and saying: “Glory to God in the Highest!  And on earth, peace, good will towards men!”

I wonder how many other children have this passage riding in their hearts as a result of Mr. Schulz’s little animated special which has become a Christmas institution for so many North Americans.  The takeaway idea here is that when you are engaged emotionally and you are experiencing something on a number of levels, there is much more of your brain working on committing something to memory.  When I experienced Scripture in the context of a story, presented by a character of interest, and I heard it repeatedly voluntarily, all these things allowed me to commit to memory a big chunk of text effortlessly.

Next up: what’s working for me to memorize!