Recently I found myself a juror in a murder trial. My fellow jurors realized I was a lawyer and eventually voted me jury foreman–which was a rare and extraordinary opportunity for a lawyer. But things got off to a rocky start on day one. The bailiff–who admitted she had never met the judge–loudly ordered me to leave my notepad behind. I tried to tell her the judge had instructed us to take notes. She refused to listen to anythng I had to say. In fact, she became extremely threatening when she saw that I was about to speak. I told her anyway, and she refused to hear it. Thus, I spent a day and a half trying to remember everything. It was awful. (I can’t tell you how confusing it was! Information does not reach the jury in a usable form. It’s all out of order and out of context.)
Then I took a single sheet of paper folded in fourths (which I could hide in my pocket)—and began discreetly making notes. She was not watching and I knew the judge would not mind. Boy, how that helped! I could finally keep the names straight, and once I had names, I could hang the key testimony from each person on that name. It was invaluable! But the rules say no notes in jury deliberations. So before the trial ended, I knew I would have to memorize everything.
Many of us approach the Bible like a jury hearing a trial—things are out of order and out of context, and no one points out which things are critical and which are trivial. And if you found yourself on a deserted island without a Bible, how much could you recall?
It was not always this way. Old Testament rabbis memorized long passages. Some committed the Torah—the first five BOOKS!—to memory.
“Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee” Psalm 119:11.
We can learn from the rabbis’ example. We need the word in our heads, not our hands!
When did you last memorize something powerful?
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