A Different Kind of Devo

A DIFFERENT KIND OF DEVO

Sometimes It’s Good To Be Invisible

          I received my Smithsonian magazine this week; I always enjoy reading their articles. This time though one made me sit back and think. Apparently, Thomas Jefferson had cut and pasted his own version of the New Testament together by using different translations and had them bound together so he could use this for his private prayer time. The article entitled, “Jefferson’s Bible” by G. Wayne Clough states that “Jefferson’s views of religion were complex and he was reluctant to express them publicly. “I not only write nothing on religion,” Jefferson once told a friend, “but rarely permit myself to speak on it.”  To me that statement means he did not intend for this book to be published. Yet, the article goes on to say, with pride, that the Smithsonian is sharing this handmade book with the world.

          It made me think; sometimes it is good to be “invisible”. I frequently write my thoughts and prayers in my journal. I know many others who do the same. I don’t know about you but the thought of my private prayer journal being made public—even to my family bothers me. I want my journals destroyed after my death, if not before.

          Perhaps I am the only one who feels this way and that’s okay too. I write because that is easier for me to concentrate when I talk with God. To be perfectly honest, sometimes I write letters to my hubby because it is easier for me to put my thoughts together on paper.

          At any rate, as the title states, this is a different type of devo, one to make us more aware of the importance of privacy. Where do we draw the line? When do we think, okay this was between him and God and that privacy should be respected.

          On the other hand, is the publication of this “Bible” somewhat akin to the publication of the Psalms, which were poems and songs written to God during good times and bad?

          Looking at Psalm 137 we see a people raging in desperate grief. Do you think the writer of this thought that thousands of years later people would still be reading his vile hatred spewed out in verse, 137:9, “Happy is the one who takes your babies
      and smashes them against the rocks!”