Faith of the Heart

Proverbs 3: 1-2

“1 My child,  do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; 2 for length of days and years of life and the abundant welfare they will give you.”

One of my favorite books is “All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”, by Robert Fulghum.  It is Fulghum’s contention that people learn most of what is necessary to live a meaningful life by the time they graduate from kindergarten; that all we really need to know “about how to live, what to do and how to be” was learned by the time we reached the age of six.  Fulghum wrote that wisdom “was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at Sunday School.”

And to a certain degree this has been true for me.  I left home when I was 18 and, for all practical purposes, I never returned.  But no matter where I was led, what graduate degree I received, or what kind of job I held, it was the teachings I received in my first 18 years at home that guided me in my dealings with other people.  

Christians are God’s children.  At His feet we have learned His ways.  God asks that these teachings not reside on our lips but in our hearts.  If these teachings reside in our hearts, they will be with us throughout our lives, giving us comfort, peace and a sense of God’s presence.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)