In my last post, I wrote about the degrees of separation between the readers of the Bible and the people whose experiences of God found their way into the Scriptures. I talked about the people who had the experiences and the people who passed their stories along and the people who wrote them down and the various audiences along the way. This way of thinking can also be applied in the opposite direction
There can also be degrees of separation between the written Word and our understanding and embodiment of a portion of Scripture. Sometimes other people connect us to Bible passages. These people can be teachers or preachers or authors or scholars. Often they are disciples like us who read their Bible devotionally in the hope of knowing God better and finding help in times of need.
One example of this was my Bible professor at the Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Lamar Williamson. One day in class Lamar told us about a method he used to memorize Bible verses. He would write a verse on a slip of paper and tape it to the mirror so he could repeat it while he was shaving. I have never tried his method. But more than 30 years later I can quote for you the verse he had memorized that morning and then quoted to the class: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” When I heard Lamar quote that verse it seemed to express what I had come to know of his deep faith. He lived that verse out in his life and his embodiment of that verse is a clear example that the word can become flesh in our lives. Lamar has helped me to incorporate this verse in my life.
The focus for my second example is Alice Marsh. Alice was 100 years old when I became her pastor. I was able to visit her in a local nursing home and heard many stories about her life as a teacher and as the principle of Esparto High School. Alice died within the first year of my tenure in Esparto. As I prepared for her memorial service I talked with her niece who told me she had a favorite saying, “We fly away.” This is a direct quote from Psalm 90:10, but for her niece it was just a part of who her aunt was. During my preparation an older man gave me a copy of the Esparto High School yearbook for 1942. He had treasured his copy because it included a letter to the graduating class from their principle. Alice knew she was addressing many young men who would shortly go to war. She spoke from her heart and what flowed out was a beautiful rendition of Psalm 90. She ended her letter with, “Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.” That’s a direct quote of verse 12 but Alice didn’t think it was necessary to give the citation; those words were her words; they had made their home within her.
With Alice Marsh there are two degrees of separation between the written word and my understanding and embodiment of Psalm 90. I only knew that she had incorporated Psalm 90 because her students had found encouragement in their principal’s letter which had found it’s way into their hearts. With Lamar Williamson there is one degree of separation. In this direction as well each degree of separation is really a connection through a real person. And recognizing that connection, and the embodiment of the Bible in these particular people, reminds us that the word can become flesh and helps the word become flesh in each of our lives.
