The Power of a Preposition

For the past two years, I have been the Essentials of the English Language Tutor at Classical Conversations of Bolivar. If you had told me back in the early 80s, when I was getting my BS in Biology, that someday I'd be teaching grammar and writing to 4th-6th graders, I would never have believed it.

How I love the twists and turns that bring unexpected joy!

How can a person not love dissecting sentences and figuring out the way words and phrases and clauses are used in sentences? It's like you're some kind of language detective.

And diagramming!?! It's like a party for your pencil!

I often remind my students why learning all these sometimes seemingly ridiculous details is so important. The God of the universe chose to communicate to us through THE WORD. Did you get that? The God of the universe chose to communicate with us through words and sentences. He left a written record for us to live by. Words are not small. Especially His words. Even little ol' prepositions.

In fact, one such preposition stood up and waved at me last week when I was reading a couple of verses. Its weight bore down hard on me in the most beautiful way.

On Monday, I began memorizing this verse. Somewhere in the middle of repeating these verses over and over, I noticed the preposition "with" in the 4th line. The words of God - his teachings and commandments - will talk "with" me.

Talk with me. As in a conversation in my soul and heart. They aren't talking "at" me. They aren't talking "about" me. They aren't talking "against" me. They aren't talking "for" me. They are talking with me.

Somehow, this living, active word of God talks with me. God takes what I read and meditate on and memorize and talks with me. So, I must read. I must mediate. I must memorize. Because I want to talk with God.

That is a beautiful, life-giving thing. That is a God thing.

That is one little preposition packing a powerful punch.

That is unexpected joy!