THE BIBLE IN MY LIFE: April 24, 2006 Issue

WE ARE ONE IN GOD

IRMA LICORISH

AS A VERY SMALL GIRL growing up in a family of 13 children in Guyana, South America (formely British Guiana) I was taught by my mother to pray on bended knees early in the morning, before meals, and at night before going to bed.

I became a reader of the family Bible when I was quite young. On Saturday or Sunday mornings, we sat on chairs in a circle, taking turns to recite verses and give God thanks.

We were encouraged in our prayer-life by our father, who was a strong, fearless man, and a good provider. To this day, I can hear his booming voice squeezing every drop of conviction and poetry from the 121st Psalm, one of his favorites, especially during the years when his work as an engineer often took him away from home for several days at a time: "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore" (verse 8).