Tuesdays

On a Sunday morning a while ago, I met two ladies who I guess were in their early seventies.  They were neatly dressed and I imagined that they might have been walking to church.  The snippet of their conversation that I caught as they passed me by has lingered in my mind.  “Now listen,” said one to the other, “ – while I think of it – you know on Tuesdays you go to …”  Intrude with me, if you will, into this private conversation, and consider my thoughts about it, phrase by phrase.

‘Now listen’ – the speaker had to say this to gain her friend’s heightened attention.  For each of them this was an opportunity to unload the week’s events.  But what the speaker was about to impart was important.  She wanted to make sure it would be remembered, over and above their usual weekly chatter.

‘While I think of it’ – Clearly there was much to share when these two met; maybe they only saw each other on that occasion each week, and each had much to share with the other.  Having remembered the need to make this particular announcement, she wanted to ensure it didn’t get overlooked: crowded out by other matters.

‘On Tuesdays’ – Both the need to specify the day in the first place, and the emphasis which the speaker placed on the word, gave me the impression that on other days, other events would also be regularly attended; their average week was quite full.

‘You go to’ – For all her age, the listener was known to be an active individual, not content to sit in and wait for the world to come to her, she was able, and even more important, willing, to go out and find the companionship of others, and join in activities with them.  

And what of the bit I missed – whatever was going to follow, some detail about the forthcoming Tuesday’s activity?  Maybe it had been cancelled.  The build up to it suggested that there would have been, at the very least, particular inconvenience or disappointment for the speaker’s friend if she were to discover this on Tuesday; better that she was forewarned.  

Those fourteen words had much to say.  Whether an accurate summary or not, the incidence prompts a parallel question in my mind.  What does God want to say to me today?  Amongst all my rambling thoughts, and all I read or listen to, is there something special that He wants me to know?  One way to find out is to examine His word in the Bible, and to study it in depth.  This analytical technique is one that we can apply to any verse of scripture.  Treat it like a chocolate orange: ‘tap it, unwrap it’, and indulge in the full richness of God’s word.