"What is your tongue?" That's not an odd question for the working mothers learning English at St. James. In Spanish, la lengua means both tongue and language. In English, tongue still commonly meant language when Thomas Cranmer admonished us to "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" Scripture in his collect for the 1549 Book of Common Prayer.
Like bread and wine, language and nourishment have always gone well together. In Psalm 19 we read, "These are the words of my mouth / these are what I chew on and pray." Hungry, Jesus would not "live on bread alone" but also on the words of the Law and the Prophets.
We hope that you will chew on the words of this book each weekday, even while you may be giving up some other food.
Besides getting your fill of Scripture, you'll get a taste of St. James from parishioners of different backgrounds and different places in their life journeys. A trio of working mothers writes in their adopted tongue. Others who write come from experiences in Adult Christian Education, Bell Choir, Choir, Congregational Care, Episcopal Church Women (ECW), Education for Ministry (EfM), Family Promise, Reach Out Mental Health, Ushers, Vestry, Wonderful Days Preschool, Book Club, and parish worship services.
The Pilgrimage at St. James has sponsored these in-house devotional booklets for many years, among other offerings of spiritual nourishment to the parish. Thanks to our stalwart contributors. I've heard that some of you enjoy tracing growth in your faith as you review your words from past issues.
Special thanks to our new contributors, and please join us again! -Scott Smoot
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