In the movie “The Book of Eli”, Denzel Washington played a blind man who preserved the only remaining copy of the Bible by memorizing and reciting the entire book.
Several years ago, I also tried memorizing chapters of the Bible and found that I could recite entire proverbs with over 30 verses. The human brain is capable of many things but in today’s world, people rely too much on machines to remember things. Active memorization is a brain exercise that may help to stave off dementia later in life.
That is why I was delighted to read this NYT story on the Bible Bee competition in the US. Some excerpts:
“At the senior level, ages 15 to 18, participants memorize 938 Bible verses, adding up to more than 20,000 words. In some rounds of competition, making even a single error in a long passage — an errant plural or wrong verb tense — leads to elimination.”
“Mr. Urrego and his wife, Claudia, maintain a spreadsheet with the competition’s hundreds of passages, sticking to a monthslong daily memorization plan for Cyan and her older brother. In the run-up to the Bee, the children paused soccer practices and games, studying several hours every night except Sundays. A family mantra: “No time to waste.””
“And the Urregos, who live in Southern California, see the Bible Bee as an anchor for their children in a society where, they said, “truth” is contested by artificial intelligence and pluralism. This is the truth, especially in a culture where we don’t even know what the truth is anymore,” Mr. Urrego said. “Everybody wants to have their own truth.””
Regardless of your religious inclinations, you can try unlocking the power of your brain by memorizing a piece of content that you value. It can be a long quote, a chapter from a book or a cooking recipe. Start with recalling a few words, or one sentence, then keep repeating the words you have memorized and add on a few more words every day.