By Heart – “You’re asked to recite a poem (or song lyrics) from memory — what’s the first one that comes to mind? Does it have a special meaning, or is there another reason it has stayed, intact, in your mind?”
Before prayer and the Bible were taken out of public schools, a precious elderly lady, my second grade teacher, Mrs. Ware, taught our class to memorize the 100th Psalm. The assignment was given at this time of year…for it is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. The words, in the King James Version, have never left my mind. I consider my year with her one of my best school years – a truly godly woman. I wonder what the differences in our culture would be if prayer had been left in our schools.
“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
I am forever grateful that I lived in a time of school prayer and Bible reading.
List of Countries that Ban School Prayer
MINDING MY P'S WITH Q 
I love Psalm 100, it is so joyful and triumphant.
When my daughter was in kindergarten she had to memorize and recite the 23rd Psalm. It’s wonderful how the things that are etched into young brains (and into the brains of their not-so-young mamas) remain.
LikeLike
She will remember it forever! Blessings! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a wonderful Psalm to have in your mind!!! That is a blessing that you were able to remember that in grade school. By the time I got to school that was a big no, no. Blessings to you.
LikeLike
Thank you Shazza…and blessings to you too! 🙂
LikeLike
That is a wonderful Psalm to have committed to memory. I have a facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Joyischoice where I promote expressing joy.
LikeLike
Hi Carolyn, I love the Psalm too. I have deactivated my FB account…maybe one day I’ll write a post about all the many and varied reasons I chose to do so.
LikeLike
I also grew up in an era of prayer & Bible references in school. However, I don’t think taking these things out of school changed society, but rather the other way around: the change in society caused these “old morals” things to be taken out of schools. I really believe that churches gave up (the truth of and the importance of living) the Bible before schools did.
LikeLike
Yes, there is truth in that too. I get dismayed by the mindset of churches that the “good” Christians are the ones most involved in the church. Salvation is not preached enough, and sometimes when it is, it is preached as a “free pass” with no mention of repentance of sins and changing your life.
LikeLike