C
contemplative
Guest
Basil Pennington writes…
I spent a few years in our monastery in the Ozarks. This is one of the poorest areas in the United States. The people living in these mountains are very poor but often very devout. I found among the people there a very good practice. Do you know where they enthrone their Bible? On the pillow on their bed. This means that when they go to bed, they have to pick up their Bible. And they take a moment to get a word from the Lord to carry with them into sleep. Then they place the Bible on their shoes. In the morning, of course, when they rise, they have to pickup the Bible. And again they receive a word from the Lord to carry with them through the day. Clever people, those friends in the mountains. from his book Lectio Divina
For years I always kept my family Bible on the coffee table in the living room. This changed when I became aware of the popularity of those large,colorful, glossy coffee table books for sale in bookstores. I felt my God’s Word deserved a better place than a coffee table. I might have also read somewhere a suggestion that I place the Word of God in the most prominent place in my home. Today I keep my family Bible on a tall wooden bookstand in the most visible place in my home. My working (most used) Bible remains at my bedside but I think I might start placing it on my pillow. I think that Pennington’s Ozark friends are on to something really good.
I spent a few years in our monastery in the Ozarks. This is one of the poorest areas in the United States. The people living in these mountains are very poor but often very devout. I found among the people there a very good practice. Do you know where they enthrone their Bible? On the pillow on their bed. This means that when they go to bed, they have to pick up their Bible. And they take a moment to get a word from the Lord to carry with them into sleep. Then they place the Bible on their shoes. In the morning, of course, when they rise, they have to pickup the Bible. And again they receive a word from the Lord to carry with them through the day. Clever people, those friends in the mountains. from his book Lectio Divina
For years I always kept my family Bible on the coffee table in the living room. This changed when I became aware of the popularity of those large,colorful, glossy coffee table books for sale in bookstores. I felt my God’s Word deserved a better place than a coffee table. I might have also read somewhere a suggestion that I place the Word of God in the most prominent place in my home. Today I keep my family Bible on a tall wooden bookstand in the most visible place in my home. My working (most used) Bible remains at my bedside but I think I might start placing it on my pillow. I think that Pennington’s Ozark friends are on to something really good.
Of course,that is an old and small Bible,the other I have, the big one with the paintings, I keep it in the closest to reach of my bookcases.