Friday is for Friends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The desert monks committed huge portions of Scripture to memory, not only putting us moderns to shame but also reminding us of the potency of a simple\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/11\/21\/friday-is-for-friends-96\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Friday is for Friends\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The desert monks committed huge portions of Scripture to memory, not only putting us moderns to shame but also reminding us of the potency of a simple\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/11\/21\/friday-is-for-friends-96\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-11-21T05:30:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1594489963\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/11\/21\/friday-is-for-friends-96\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/11\/21\/friday-is-for-friends-96\/\",\"name\":\"Friday is for Friends\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-11-21T05:30:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-11-21T05:30:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"The desert monks committed huge portions of Scripture to memory, not only putting us moderns to shame but also reminding us of the potency of a simple\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/11\/21\/friday-is-for-friends-96\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/11\/21\/friday-is-for-friends-96\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/11\/21\/friday-is-for-friends-96\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Friday is for Friends\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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{"id":4957,"date":"2008-11-21T00:30:45","date_gmt":"2008-11-21T05:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2008\/11\/21\/friday-is-for-friends-96\/"},"modified":"2008-11-21T00:30:45","modified_gmt":"2008-11-21T05:30:45","slug":"friday-is-for-friends-96","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/11\/21\/friday-is-for-friends-96\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday is for Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This is why the monks put so much of Scripture \u2014 the Psalms and Gospels \u2014 to memory. Not only do they put us to shame when it comes to memorization, they point us to the power of a simple life lived in the rhythm of the biblical Story. Once Norris was visiting her husband in a hospital when she had to walk through some frigidly cold weather and her thoughts turned to cursing the temperature only to remember words from the liturgy from Daniel about blessing God in the cold and winter.<\/p>\n

\nThis is about learning to redirect our thoughts. If you think about this much you will think about the image of God and humans \u2026 and two things: that we are made in God\u2019s image but that it takes time \u2014 far too long at times \u2014 to live up to our image.<\/p>\n

The monks know this and that means that monasteries are not afraid of therapeutic help from both drugs and therapists. But Norris tells the story, I should say she warns us, of a college that released its chaplain because it had therapists on campus. Therapeutics and pastoring are not the same.<\/p>\n

Norris learned what prayer was from the monks: \u201cwarfare to the last breath\u201d (from Abba Agathon). She reflects on how she is both introvert and extrovert, liking both public crowds and the monastery. She\u2019s learned also to live with her ups and downs.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a sane comment: \u201cThis up-and-down, unsteadfast person is who I am; this is the devil I know\u201d (97). Depressed folks, she observes, have a more realistic view of the world. Depression is a teacher. The struggle is worth it, she claims.<\/p>\n

In this chp she tells the story of her husband, David, and his health struggles.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"