Holiness in our midst – Session 8

SESSION VIII: WORDS TO LIVE BY

What words so inform your daily life that you might inscribe them on your doorpost or hang them on your wall?

Some examples:

  • My great Uncle Alfred and Aunt Wilma Kruschwitz of Grundy Center, Iowa had a plaque on their living room wall, quoting Joshua 24:15: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” They lived these words, and the generations that have followed also abide by them.

  • My brother-in-law Bill and my sister Janet Sparks have a framed copy of Desiderata on a bedroom wall. Gives them perspective, they say. (If you aren’t familiar with this writing, look it up in its entirety: “Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence.”)

  • On my kitchen wall is a saying: “Gardens and families need tended every day.” It reminds me to pay particular attention to the tasks at hand.

One family’s saying stands out, because it was actually inscribed on a gold plate on the door between their kitchen and dining room. Norbert and the late Martha Kash of Colo, Iowa read these words each day: “Bread is the staff of life. That, however, is no reason for this staff to be one big loaf.” I smiled the first time I read them, as I’m sure their many friends, family members and bed-and-breakfast guests did through the years. The words recall the line in the Lord’s prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

What words do you and your family members live by?

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STORY CIRCLE QUESTION: What words are visible on the walls of your home each day? Why did you choose them?

FOR PERSONAL/JOURNAL REFLECTION:

  1. Read the above reflection aloud.

  2. Write a journal reflection on the words that you live by.

FOR GROUP STUDY:

  1. Read aloud Session VIII.

  2. Ask each person to answer the Story Circle Question.

  3. If time allows, ask if there is an intergenerational connection to anyone’s words chosen.