Before written languages were developed, memory was the only way to learn. In our day, memorising has got a bad name as ‘rote learning’. But memorising never makes your mind a duller place – just the opposite! When we have stored wonderful words in our memory, we will have a much richer inner life than someone who doesn’t. Eva Hermann spent two years in a Nazi prison camp. She wrote how a young cellmate happened to recite the prayer of St Teresa: ‘Let naught trouble thee; let naught frighten thee; all things pass. God alone changeth not. Patience can do all things. Whoever has God, has everything. God alone sufficeth.’ When Eva saw how much this helped the girl, she began to repeat the prayer at the end of every day. Eva later wrote of how her time in prison was transformed by the words she had memorised. This illustrates that the words we carry in our minds are available to transform any given moment. So when there is a verse of Scripture that speaks to you, stop and write it on a card. Put it on a mirror in your bathroom, or on your smartphone or calendar, or in your car. If you’re an auditory learner, listen to the Scripture being read on CDs or on an iPod. If you’re a visual learner, light a candle and read these words: ‘God is light; in him there is no darkness at all’ (1 John 1:5 NIV). When God’s Word is rehearsed, remembered, and repeated often, it’s like a stream of joy, peace, and strength that flows and carries your soul along with it.
