The Rev. Leigh Spruill celebrated our daily Eucharist on Thursday last week. He’d seen a post on Facebook from an Episcopalian bragging that our denomination is rooted in Scripture. Leigh cautioned that although it is true that we read a lot of Scripture each Sunday, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we have embraced it into our hearts. Exposure shouldn’t breed arrogance, but instead it should inspire a deeper inquisitiveness within us so that we long to learn more. Just like new lovers who want to know everything about each other’s histories, we should read Scripture to learn everything we can about our first love, God and Jesus.

In Romans 15:4 we hear, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

This Scripture verse reminds me of the time a few years ago that I encountered a church acquaintance as she was walking into our December healing prayer service, Silent Night. I inquired if something was wrong that I could pray for and she said, “No, not really. Everything in my life is going pretty well right now. I don’t have any complaints. But with elderly parents and two sons starting to navigate their own lives after college, I expect that there will times in the future when everything won’t be okay. I know that I will lose some people that I love, and those who are close to me will encounter bumps in the world. I want to be ready. By reading Scripture and praying now, I hope to be fortified. I guess what I mean to say is that I want to know and trust Jesus so much that when difficulties arise, I will be confident that he’ll be with me every step of the way.”

I located another verse that speaks to the vibrancy of Scripture in Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Leigh completed my thought when he concluded, “We need to let Scripture shape our imagination. Like a tree nourished by a stream, it feeds us from within so we have no need to wait for an occasional rainstorm.”

I pray that you will be buoyed by Scripture and prayer during the tranquil times in your life so that you will be fully nourished when difficulties arise.

Blessings, my friend,
Agatha