Devotion - Wednesday, October 10

Most of us know the line from Robert Frost' poem "Mending Wall" which reads, "Good fences make good neighbors."  We repeat the line, and in doing so we think we have offered the summation line for the poem.  But the poet is saying exactly the opposite.

Twice in the poem (in the opening line and mid-way through) the voice of the poet says, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall."

We uncovered a tendency to pick one line from a writing and give it undue weight in last night's Bible study. We were looking at a passage from Amos 5.  The prophet is building to his point (verse 24) and along the way he points to the religious practices which the people think are most important.  He speaks of their worship services and of their piety.  But, this section of Amos says, what God desires is mercy and justice.

Our discussion last night exposed how one line catches our eye and we fail to get to the verse which gives the section it purpose.  Much as with Frost's poem, we repeat a memorable line, but fail to grasp the whole of what is being said.

I suggested last evening that this tendency might arise out of the awful habit which is often called "proof-texting."  We find a verse of scripture to support our thoughts and we repeat that verse as if the matter is settled.  If there is but one verse which supports our thinking, we need to be careful.  And, even when we find several verses we need to check to be sure that we are not using them out of context.

Frost used a proverb which had been around for a century or more in his poem.  But his poem was an attempt to call into question an assumption made by too many.  His hope was to challenge quips, particularly those which misguide us or contribute to simplistic interpretations.  Being a student of the Bible means learning not to do the same.