CATHOLIC BROAD'S FAITH BOX ADVICE

 

    A few years back, when my soul was shredded, and I was going through a dire time, I thought to myself, "Annie-girl, why don't you read more of the Psalms? They have everything in them: joy, despair, envy, rage, pouting, yearning for God, and railing at God. They will help you."

 

    I opened my old Sunday School Bible to the half-way mark in its pages, as one fav pastor told me to do,

 and began. I wrote in my Prayer Insights Journal, a good thing to have, and wrote, "I am beginning again with the Psalms, and I feel as if I were fastening my seat belt."

    Here are a few things this Catholic Broad has learned about reading the Psalms and memorizing them./ (Say what? Memorizing you say? I don't do that!) But if you are emotionally slogging through the mud of Verdun or better yet, dancing in a Mary Oliver meadow, these are things you can do to fasten your seat belt.

    #1/ Memorize one Psalm in two weeks. You may think this is impossible, that all of those Geometry Theorems have fled your brain (and damn riddance to them!),

 but I have faith in you. Picture your soul as an ornate treasure box from the 15th-century, or if you prefer, a humble, clean wooden box. Into it you will put treasures to sustain you in all periods of your life. So this is how it goes:

    #2/ Get an index card, lined or plain. Find a Psalm that speaks to you and write one line from it onto your card. Carry this in your back or front pocket. Take it out several times a day, read it, and say the words aloud to yourself. Your ear needs to hear them in order to memorize the line.

 

    #3/ The next day, write another line from your Psalm on the index card. Feel the feels as they say, letting whatever comes up settle into the treasure chest of your soul. Put the card away, but take it out several times daily and read the first and second lines aloud to yourself. Those lines are becoming part of you!

    #4/ Do this throughout week one and two, writing a line down, memorizing it, and carrying the card in your pocket.

    #5/ By the end of two weeks, you should have one Psalm firmly in your treasure chest. 

 Then, my peeps, you have an anchor to throw overboard when your boat is rocked by a storm. The words will continue to resonate within--grounding you, giving hope, and making a framework to contain your emotions. And best of all, saying these words aloud will connect you to our God who always calls us, "My beloved."