I memorized a LOT of verses as a kid. In a lot of different programs, so the same verses came up again and again and were reinforced. But I’m glad I wasn’t given a canned “application” to go along with each verse. Maybe it also helped that my dad could come up with a quote from scripture to apply to any situation. Sometimes it was a joke. Sometimes he even changed things up. One of his favorites was, “And when you pray, go into your closet, and when you have shut the door … find the broom and start sweeping.”

Having a lot of verses memorized without any particular application has really enhanced my meditative life as an adult because each verse wasn’t married to a canned interpretation. I could play with them in ways I would never have thought of as a kid when I did the memory work.

So I like Pastor Joelle’s ideas. Her reasons are good, but also giving a repertoire of traditional sayings that can be drawn upon in the future has value in itself. For this purpose, reinforcing memorization among all ages is not a bad idea. Liturgies can do this. In non-liturgical churches, like the ones I grew up in, you can spend 2-3 minutes of each service reciting a “verse of the month,” so it’s o longer treated as just an activity for children.

Also, I would take issue with saying memorization is not a traditional spiritual discipline. It may not be listed separately, but several of the traditional disciplines are closely related to memorization.

Honestly, we don’t see much of the kind of memorization programs I wrote against within the ELCA. I come from an evangelical background and still have lots of ties to people in that tradition. I just observed a conversation between people about giving away iPod Touches for memorizing Bible verses. And I just wrote my thoughts why I didn’t like that idea.

I am for scripture memorization within programs. I’m not for programs based solely on memorization.

And when the old people hear them reciting bible verses they dont’ worry so much about the other heretical stuff I’m teaching them.