A Life Link

When I was in seventh grade in 1965, I remember how Dad would read The Upper Room every day, along with the suggested Bible selections. Observing Dad’s habits inspired me to do the same. I read my Bible every day and have read it cover to cover many times. The Upper Room has helped me through many of life’s tribulations and joys. I imparted this daily practice to my son, and he has passed it on to his son.

As I look back on my life, I understand a link that has helped me choose direction and maintain course. I’ve wandered, as many do, struggling to stay afloat amidst heaving waves of troubles, and I have stumbled across the shifting sands of making the right decisions. I have found the Bible is a source of knowledge that acts like a solid rock of how to live, and God’s warm embrace shimmers through it. The Bible has helped me follow the ways of the Lord.

The Upper Room has been a companion guide, a daily source of centering and of spiritual strength, a place of shelter, and a supplemental aid. During my youth, my dad read it each day, keeping it in the nightstand by his chair. I have followed the same habit. Handing down this habit to our children has been a form of continuity for half a century. Seldom is there an intergenerational linkage that can keep family customs alive and one that is useful as a guide to good ways. Each day as the sun rises it spreads light on the words in The Upper Room.