COSI is closed on Mondays. Boo hoo. 5623

“It’s my turn, Miss Hall,” says a thin young woman of fifteen.

Amelia waits, glancing around the room for sign of dissent. She notes that several of the girls nod their heads in agreement. Giving the girls the authority and responsibility to keep track of who should get turns each week, and in what order gave them some ownership of the activity. So much of their lives was regimented and decided for them, too much, in Amelia’s opinion. How were they going to learn to make good choices, to work things out, if they were never given a chance to do so? “Very well then, Ida,” she says satisfied, “you may begin.”

“I am thinking of a person,” Ida tells the room, and the questions begin.

“Is he in the Old Testement?” asks a girl sitting across from Ida. Amelia ticks off one question on her fingers.

“Yes,” replies Ida.

“Is it David?” Maggie asks eagerly. This question is met with murmurs and complaints from some of the more experienced players. Amelia says nothing, but ticks off a second finger. “Well,” defends the questioner. “It could have been David, and then we would have gotten it on the second question.”

“Is it a ‘he’?” asks Brie, shooting a scornful glance towards the defender of David. Amelia’s third finger goes up.

“Yes,” concedes Ida.

“Is it—“ but this time the excitable Maggie is hushed.

“You can’t just start guessing names,” explains Brie, as she did nearly every week. “Do you know how many ‘he’s are in the Old Testement? It could be any one of them. We’ll use up all our questions if we have to guess every name. We have to narrow it down. You ask questions like ‘Is he a prophet?’ or ‘Was he a king of Israel?’ And anyway, you just asked a question. You should let other people have a turn.”

“I did let other people have a turn,” defends Maggie, her voice rising in volume. “I let you have a turn.”

“Quiet voices please,” reminds Amelia. “Today is Sunday, remember.” She leaves unspoken the fact that they do not want Mrs Becker, the housemother, to hear from her room upstairs. That would put an immediate end to their activity. A couple of girls shoot nervous glances towards the ceiling anyway.

“Was he a king of Israel?” asks Mollie. As always, a few wisps of red hair have pulled loose from her pins and frame her highly freckled face. Though Amelia puts her foot down firmly against teasing, she knows that the other girls have often said Mollie’s freckles were the most prominent feature on her face.

“Yes,” says Ida, trying to keep her voice and features plain.

“Is it King Solomon?” blurts out Maggie. Brie shoots her a look full of daggers.

“Yes,” groans Ida in defeat.

“Those are the only two kings I know, anyway,” Mollie tells Brie. “So it weren’t no use me asking any other questions anyway. So you can just save your breath on that score, and anyhow, I guessed it right.”

“Correctly,” corrects Amelia. “You guessed it correctly. And wasn’t. You should say, ‘it wasn’t any use,’ not ‘it weren’t no use.’ Very well, that was four questions. Ida, do you have your verse?”

“I do,” says Ida as she stands to her feet to deliver a stoic recitation. “Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly. First Kings, Chapter Two, Verse Twelve.” A moment of silence follows this delivery while the girl chosen as referee finds the scripture in question and nods to verify Ida’s recitation.

Then the thoughtful Clara asks, “Does that count as a memory verse? Or is it more a verse of history?”

“It doesn’t have any ‘begats’,” defends Ida. Early on in the activity, it was decided that the ‘begat’ verses, and their long list of obscure names, were prohibited. Amelia had stressed the importance of choosing a verse that held some meaning. If, she had told the girls, they were going to the effort of memorizing a scripture verse, it should be one that would help guide them, comfort them, or encouraging them. And thus the distinction between a “memory verse” and a “history verse.” Amelia shifts slightly in her seat. Her first year of teaching, she would have immediately taken over the discussion, eager to impart her insight and knowledge to her pupils. But now, with a bit of effort, she waits to see what the girls can work out on their own. They had so many people already making every decision in their lives, that, like allowing them to work out the order of turns, Amelia felt they benefited from discussing and deciding some issues on their own. It was not standard pedagogical practice for instructing girls, especially troubled girls who were destined for simple futures. Amelia is certain that the superintendent would not approve of her improvisations, and so Ameila has a divided conscious on how she is handling these discussions. Tonight, during her quiet time, she’ll have to search through the scriptures. She is certain that there is a scripture about obeying those in authority. But there is also scriptures about meditating on God’s word, and meditation surely meant thoughtful consideration. And, thoughtful consideration needed the ablilty to exercise reason, which needed practice.

“But,” continues Clara, “how does that verse help you?”

All scripture, thinks Amelia, is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Was she leading them astray? Teaching them that some scriptures have more value than others? Or worse, teaching them that they can shift through and pick and choose which parts of God’s word are important to them, and shich parts they discard?

Ida was a very dependable girl, but not very imaginative. In short, she was exactl the sort of character Lancaster was hoping to produce. She was certain to do well in practically any placement they gave her next year. But at Clara’s question, Ida is at a loss.

“You did very well with your recitation, Ida,” Amelia steps in. “I think we would like to know why you chose that particular scripture?”

Stork-like the tall girl tilts her head quizickly at Amelia. “I wanted to find a verse about King Solomon. This one didn’t have any begats, and it sounded important.”

“Well done, Ida. You may copy your verse in our record book. Please be sure to check your spelling from the Bible as you write.” On impulse, and taking a small risk, she asks the recorder, “Gertie, could you read for us the scriptures right before and after Ida’s verse?” Amelia has no idea what those Scriptures are, and hope she hasn’t just muddied the waters completely.

Gertie’s finger runs over the page, trying to find the verse again. With another chapter and verse prompt from Ida, she is eventually successful, and reads haltlingly, “ ‘And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Heb—heb-- Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly. And Adon--Adonijah the son of Hag--Haggith came to Bath--sheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.’ ” Gertie looks up from her reading as one who has just completed a mechanical task.

Clara’s eyebrows raise. Every line of her face seems to say, ‘I told you so.’

Amelia, hoping to medicate some of the damage she might have done says, “Just because something is a history, does not make it any less a part of God’s word. Surely the Father has a reason for each verse he has men include in His holy book, and we shouldn’t completely skip over those passages. Ida was right, the fact that Solomon’s kingdom was greatly established is important. And who are we to say that this verse, and this conversation, might not be a lamp to Ida to help direct her feet on her path. Or a lamp to someone else in this room some time later in life? Recite with me, ‘Thy word is a lamp…”

And several girl voices chorus in, “…unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

Amelia nods, “And, this one….’Thy word have I hid…’ “

“…in my heart,’ “ intone the girls, “ ‘that I might not sin against thee.’ “

Amelia feels immediately mollified. The rote recitation was much more in keeping with Lancaster’s methodology. And yet… “You are right as well, Clara. Normally it is not the straight history verses that we hide in our heart. Remember, our purpose is to find, no,” she corrects herself, “to keep in our heart verses that instruct us and direct us in life. But, neither can we discard the importance of the history the Bible holds.” Amelia pauses, weighing the words she has just spoken. They seemed right, yet she wishes she had one other trusted person to confide in and seek counsel from. Was the fact that she couldn’t discuss this with anyone else a sign that she was truly and utterly mistaken?

“Who is next?” she asks abruptly, tired of the self-doubt that has been plaguing her since Christmas.