A Quick Addendum: Why the Bible Still Matters

After I sent out my recent essay on why we should read the Bible, I realized there was something I hadn’t fully expressed—something important enough that I wanted to send this brief follow-up.

It’s a common belief—among every generation—that we are the smartest, most advanced, most morally and intellectually evolved people to ever walk the earth.

So when someone tells us we should read the Bible because it’s “good for us,” our natural reaction might be to roll our eyes, sigh deeply, and maybe skim a few verses now and then… or at least try to pay attention when the pastor reads from scripture on Sunday morning.

That was certainly my attitude, even as I’ve dipped in and out of Bible study classes over the past four decades.

But recently, my appreciation for scripture has taken on a new depth, and I want to share what changed.

It’s this: imagine how ancient these stories are. Thousands of years old. And yet—what could they possibly offer us today?

Everything.

That’s exactly the point. The stories we find in the Bible are stories of humanity itself. From the first account of temptation and its consequences, to the earliest example of sibling rivalry and its tragic outcome, we see not only the beginnings of religious faith but the unfolding of humanity’s moral, ethical, and spiritual journey.

When we read the stories of the Old Testament with this in mind, the appearance of Jesus Christ—God in human form—becomes not only understandable, but inevitable. The teachings of Christ in the Gospels reveal a different kind of relationship between humanity and God—one that mirrors our spiritual growth and maturity.

So when we read the Bible, we are reading the story of us. Our human family. We begin to see how far we’ve come—and how much we still wrestle with the same core emotions: love and hate, peace and war, faith and fear.

That’s why the Bible—both Old and New Testaments—remains essential. Not just as a religious text, but as a living record of who we are, where we’ve been, and who we are still becoming.

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Reading the Bible Daily (Even if you're not a Bible Scholar)

(Image: Salvator Mundi - Savior of the World - attributed to Leonardo da Vinci)

I’ve been procrastinating on writing this second installment in my Three Steps to a Deeper Spiritual Life series for so long, you’ve probably forgotten it was a series.

The first step I shared was about establishing a daily practice of gratitude, because gratitude grounds us in the present moment.

Today, I want to talk about step two: reading sacred scripture daily.

And in the final step (which I promise won’t take as long), I’ll talk about developing a daily conversation with God through prayer.

So—why did I delay writing about reading the Bible?

Well, the truth is… I do read the Bible every day. But the reason I hesitated to write about it is because the first thought that popped into my head was:

Who am I to tell anyone how or why to read the Bible?

I’m not a scholar. I’ve never taken a theology class. I’ve started and stopped Fr. Mike Schmitz’s Bible in a Year podcast twice. So, clearly, I’m no expert.

But I’ve been quietly reading scripture every morning for a few years now, and I realize how much it has become the foundation of my spiritual life. So I’m not here to tell you how to read the Bible. I just want to share why it’s become so meaningful to me—and maybe it will inspire you to begin your own practice, or deepen the one you already have.

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My Morning Ritual

Every morning, I fix my one-and-only cup of coffee—a big, milky mug—and head upstairs to the loft. From my favorite chair, I have a view of the distant Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

I settle in with my iPad and open an app called Give Us This Day, a Catholic daily devotional built around the Liturgy of the Hours—I like to think of it as Liturgy of the Hours with training wheels.

The app offers:

• Morning Prayer (usually a psalm and short scripture reading)

• The daily Mass readings

• Evening and Night Prayer

The Morning Prayer takes just 15 minutes and includes a psalm—often a psalm of praise—plus a short Old Testament reading, a short list of prayer intentions for the day, and ending with the Our Father prayer.

Over time, I’ve found myself slowing down, reading each day’s psalm two or three times, and letting the words settle in.

There’s a name for this: Lectio Divina, or “divine reading.” But in simple terms, it just means taking the time to sit with scripture.

Because if I rush through it, I usually finish feeling like I’ve just ticked a box. But when I read slowly—when I allow the words to speak to me—I feel something shift inside. A moment of clarity. A spark of comfort or conviction.

That’s when the Holy Spirit nudges something in my heart and says, “This part is for you.”

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Letting Scripture Shape My Day

I’ve recently started listening to the daily Mass readings in bed before I get up. These include a reading from the Old Testament, a psalm, and a gospel passage.

Listening helps me imagine the scene: the people, the setting, the emotions. It draws me in and makes the scripture feel more alive, more human. It reminds me that we are part of a long and interesting history of people seeking a relationship with our Creator.

Whether I’m reading or listening, scripture gives me something to carry with me into the day. It anchors me.

I’ve come to believe that daily scripture reading is not about checking off a spiritual to-do list. It’s about creating space—even 15 quiet minutes—to hear God’s voice in the midst of a noisy world.

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What Matters Most

If you’ve ever struggled to start a Bible reading habit—or wondered if you’re “doing it right”—I want to reassure you:

You don’t have to be a scholar. You don’t have to follow a specific plan.

Just start with a psalm. Or the day’s gospel reading. Or open your Bible and read until something speaks to you. Then read it again.

The Bible has become the most important part of my morning—not because I always understand everything I read, but because it helps me feel close to God. It gives me strength, hope, and a sense of belonging in His story.

Wherever and however you begin, I hope you’ll discover that too.

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In the next (and final) post in this series, I’ll write about step three: prayer—developing a daily conversation with God. That’s a topic I feel much more comfortable with… so I promise not to wait so long this time.

Until then, I’ll leave you with this blessing:

May the Word of God speak to your heart, and may it remind you that you are deeply loved.

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Helpful Links:

• Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz (Podcast)

• Give Us This Day – Catholic Daily Devotional App

• YouVersion Bible App - has many great short Bible studies

Gratitude will teach you who you are

Note to Carrie Bradshaw: it shouldn’t be the only thing that changes as you age

When I suggest that what you're grateful for reflects who you are, I don't mean that in a materialistic way. I think of it as a reflection of your age and the season of your life.

Now that I am in my 60s, what I'm grateful for is much different than what I cherished as a teenager or a young woman in my 20s or 30s. That's perfectly natural and as it should be.

Yet we are given the message in media and culture that we should not age—that what we appreciate should not change, that we ourselves should not change, neither in what we desire nor in how we look. But I think this is an immature view of life, one that doesn't understand the full arc of wisdom and beauty that emerges as we age.

A recent example is, And Just Like That, a reboot of the Sex and the City series. It features three of the original cast members and imagines their lives in New York 20 years later. What is most disheartening about the series is the message it sends to women, especially as exemplified by Sarah Jessica Parker's character.

Twenty years later, she dresses the same and pursues a failed relationship from her past, (it’s still failing) sending a message that older women don’t learn from their mistakes, grow in confidence, or create different outcomes —only a never-ending loop of living in the past and trying to recapture their youth. As if that were where happiness could be found.

What Does This Have to Do with Gratitude?

Gratitude teaches us otherwise. It anchors us in the present moment and gently reveals how far we’ve come. It shifts our attention from what we used to want to what truly matters now—from outward achievement to inner peace, from appearance to presence, from striving to stillness.

In my last essay, I wrote that gratitude is the beginning of a deeper spiritual walk with God. It quiets the noise of “not enough” and reminds us that this moment, right now, is full of grace. Gratitude invites us to stop grasping and begin receiving.

When we do, we begin to notice the abundance already around us: the loving relationships that sustain us, the beauty of ordinary days, the quiet presence of God found whenever we pay attention.

If I were asked for a proof of God’s existence it would be the twin gifts of beauty and love.

As we ground ourselves in gratitude, we realize that beauty and love, ageless and boundless, given to us at the moment of creation—form a bridge from ourselves to our Creator. Our ability to fully value them are the fruits of gratitude.

How we travel that bridge to a deeper relationship with God is what I will continue to explore in the next two essays. Please subscribe so you can join me.

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This reflection on gratitude as a practice that evolves with age invites us to embrace each season of life with its own unique gifts and perspectives, rather than clinging to what once was.

Hint: It All Leads to God

How Three Simple Habits Changed my Life

Last week, I wrote about three habits I believe can lead to a better life: gratitude, scripture reading, and prayer. These three rhythms have become the most important part of my morning.

I grab a cup of coffee, curl up in the big chair in my upstairs loft—my favorite perch where I can see the distant mountains of Virginia—and begin the day with my journal and my iPad. There, in that quiet space, I read scripture, pray, and focus on what I’m grateful for.

When I first said I’d write about each of these habits in depth over the coming weeks, that was exactly my intention. But as I sat down to begin the first essay on gratitude, I realized there was something more I wanted to say first. Something foundational. Why are these three habits so effective? Why do I believe they hold the same transformative power as daily exercise or healthy eating?

Let me explain with a story.

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My Morning Funnel

Every morning, I make coffee with a simple pour-over ceramic cone that sits atop my mug. It brews just enough for one large cup, which is exactly all I need.

One morning, I couldn’t find it. In a pinch, I grabbed a plastic kitchen funnel and used that instead. It worked just fine, and I texted a picture to my brother John, reminding him of his most valuable advice to me:

“Necessity is the mother of invention.”

That photo has stayed with me—not just because it made me laugh, but because it gave me a metaphor. That little funnel became a symbol for what these three habits do for my spiritual life.

Just as the funnel guides the water through the coffee grounds into the mug, the three daily habits gently, inexorably, draw me into the presence of God.

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Gratitude Grounds Us

"Gratitude grounds us in the present moment."

So much of life is spent chasing what’s next: what we want to accomplish, where we want to go, what we’re saving for. The striving never ends.

But gratitude stops the clock for just a moment. It invites us to breathe deeply and say, “In this moment, no matter how I feel—whether full or empty—I can name three things I’m thankful for.”
Even if they’re as simple as I’m alive.

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Scripture Roots Us

"Scripture reminds us we’re not alone in our emotions or our struggles."

When I read the Bible—especially the Psalms—I’m reminded of our shared humanity. The praise, the lamentations, the yearning and celebration—they root us in the long, sacred story of being humans who have pursued God, turned to God, have been healed by God, and most importantly, our sacred scriptures show us that we have had a relationship with God since the first moments of our creation.

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Prayer Connects Us

"These habits funnel us toward the Source of all that is good."

Gratitude grounds us. Scripture reminds us we’re part of something bigger—rooted, connected, known by God. And that naturally leads to prayer, our conversation with God.

Not fancy or perfect prayer, but simply a conversation with the God who loves us, who created us, who walks with us.

"Daily prayer reminds us we are never alone—we walk this journey with God."

When that conversation becomes a rhythm, a habit, we begin to see our lives differently. We are not alone. We are with God.
And we are part of a community of others who love Him too.

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This is the first in a short series on the daily habits that shape a life of faith.

Next time, I’ll go deeper into gratitude—how it changes the way we see the world, and how even the smallest thank-you can be a doorway to joy.

Until then, maybe start with a single step:
Find three things today to be grateful for. Just three.
Let them ground you, in this present moment, and remind you of all that you already have.

Three simple practices that will transform your life

And you can accomplish them in 15 minutes a day

Dear Friend,

When I was in my 20s, 30s, and 40s, I read all kinds of self-improvement books—how to be more successful, to invest wisely, to organize my life, to lose weight, and gain friends. The promise was always the same: these were the steps to success. And with success, happiness would follow.

Now, in my 60s, my idea of happiness has changed.

I see this season of life as a threshold—a crossing into a new chapter that juxtaposes an aging body with a mind gathering wisdom.

I’ve found that living well in this stage of life looks very different from how I once imagined it. Because of course, I had no idea of what it meant to be here.

Today, I want to share three daily practices that I believe have helped me the most. They’re gentle, grounding, and deeply enriching. They’ve helped me walk through both ordinary days and harder seasons with a little more peace and purpose.

1. Begin and end each day by naming three things you’re grateful for.

You don’t need a special journal or a perfect pen. Most of the time, I just count them on my fingers or say them out loud—three things, every morning and every night.

Why? Because the world is constantly telling us we’re missing something. That we need to do more, be more. It can feel endless. But when I pause and name three things I already have—I remember that my life is already full.

If I have food, shelter, and health, I have so much. If I have even one person who loves me, I’m deeply blessed. Gratitude has a way of gently resetting our hearts, especially on days when everything feels heavy.

2. Read a little bit of the Bible each morning. I start with the Psalms.

I love the Psalms. They’re full of praise and sorrow, hope and frustration, longing and joy. They don’t hide from life’s messiness. In fact, they name it beautifully. And even though they were written thousands of years ago, I’m always surprised by how closely they speak to my own heart.

Our joys and our heartbreaks are not new. The Psalms remind me of that. They help me begin my day with a deep breath and a sense of connection—not just to Scripture, but to something much bigger and older than myself.

3. Talk to God throughout your day. It’s as natural as breathing.

Prayer takes many forms—from formal prayers recited during a service, to whispered breaths of anguish or gratitude. I start my day with prayer. And at night, I no longer kneel beside my bed, but I stand quietly, bow my head, and briefly end my day with God.

I believe prayer is the lynchpin in our relationship with God. And it can be the most intimate, safe, and transformative relationship we have. We can tell God things we would never speak aloud to another soul. We can be completely ourselves.

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I thought this would be a short reflection, because I’ve mentioned each of these practices before—but as I wrote, I realized just how much they have added to the quality of my life. With that in mind, I am going to expand this into a 3 or 4-part series and consider each of these practices in more depth.

But don’t keep that from starting them today. They’re not complicated. But they are powerful. And they’ve made all the difference in my life.

I hope they bless you, too.

With love,
Suzanne

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