Hey everyone, I'm Dr. Allison. Today's scripture offers us a wiser way of being human as we step into the day.

Our midweek passage from the Old Testament comes immediately after the giving of the Ten Commandments,

anchoring God's law not merely in rules to follow, but in a way of life meant to be

lived from the heart. It invites us to consider how we are actually formed, not by what we believe

in some abstract way, but by what we return to again and again. Today's reading comes from

Deuteronomy 6, 4 through 9. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children.

Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road when you lie down and when you get up.

Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

Write them on the door frames of your house and on your gates.

This passage, often called the shmah, was central to the daily life of Israel.

It's a prayer or blessing, a declaration of commitment to God's ways, emphasizing deep understanding

and devotion. The shmah wasn't reserved for special occasions or religious ceremonies.

It was meant to be spoken regularly, morning and night, at home and on the road, woven into the

ordinary rhythms of daily life. That context is important. Formation here isn't flashy. It's repetitive,

embodied, woven into ordinary life. From a psychological perspective, this aligns closely with

what we know about how human beings actually change. Lasting formation doesn't happen through

inside alone. It happens through repetition, through what the nervous

system learns over time to expect, trust, and rely on. What we repeat shapes us. We are constantly

being formed by the messages we rehearse, the rhythms we live within, and the environments we

inhabit. Whether we choose them intentionally or not, repetition is always at work.

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