Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest

Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest. This has been a favorite directive of mine for years. It comes from a collect in the Book of Common Prayer. The entire thing goes like this: 

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP 236)

As I walked this morning, this verse came to mind and I thought about it in a new way; and that is, it is a progression that begins with reading the Scriptures. Without having done that, the entire thing falls flat-and there is no going forward beyond that; no way to mark and learn without having read them first, and no way to read them if one hadn’t at least heard of them first. (Notice the hearing comes first in the collect.)

This reading bit I think is a stumbling block for many of us: Taking the time to read what God says is the beginning-and not the end, yes it is a goal-but the culmination of this goal is getting to know the author. That is where the “inwardly digest” bit comes in. when we eat-whatever we eat, that something becomes a part of us, it is a building block (hopefully and not total junk-but that is another discussion), it is incorporated into our very being-it forms our cells and so grows us into who we are.

This is the inward digestion that is being called for in this prayer; that the Word might so become a part of us that it is integral to who we are, how we think, what we do, and how we perceive and respond to the world around us. For today, I pray that I might READ, mark, learn and inwardly digest the Word of the Lord-and so get to know the author in a deeper way. Amen.