Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“When in the future your child asks you, “What does this mean?” you shall answer, “By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, October 9, 2019
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
When I was young, I learned the alphabet by singing a simple song. I didn’t have to strain to memorize the tune or the sequence of letters (26 letters would be a hard sequence for anyone to learn!). The alphabet came easily to me and has been forever burned into my memory because I sang the song over and over again. Through repetition and a simple tune, I learned a complex sequence that will remain with me until the day I die.
In middle school I had a geography teacher who required us to learn this: “The earth’s axis is inclined approximately 23½ degrees from the perpendicular to the plane of its orbit.” In short, the earth is tilted. Mr. Roberts taught us this important geography fact by repeating it to us time and again during class. We had to memorize it outside of class. We had to recite it together during class. (We also learned to spell parallel the same way: “P-A-R-A double L, E-L.”) I will remember all of these things because I was asked to repeat them until they stuck.
More importantly, though, I remember the people (and birds) associated with the things I memorized. I will never forget how Big Bird tried to read the alphabet as a single word. And I will always remember how Mr. Roberts wore a single earring in his left ear, drove a motorcycle, and reprimanded a kid for making fun of me for giving a wrong answer in class. (I meant Europe, not England.)
God knew how powerful repetition can be, not only for learning, but for remembering what was learned and who taught us. By asking the Israelites to reenact the Passover feast (with unleavened bread and sacrifices) and by telling the story, people would remember not only that they were freed from slavery in Egypt, but also that it was a powerful, persistent, and loving God who freed them.
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