A: Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7 KJV).
C: Clap your hands, all peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy (Psalm 47:1 ESV).
L: Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else (Isaiah 45:22 KVJ).
My parents came up with creative ways to approach family devotions for their children. One activity I remember was selecting meaningful Bible verses to memorize together that started with each letter of the alphabet from A to Z. In that spirit, I would like to suggest that the following three verses, one that begins with A, one with C, and one with L, reflect both the spirit of our beloved association and our individual lives as followers of Jesus who happen to be librarians.
A: Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7 KJV).
Regardless of the type of librarian you are or the particular library in which you work, a high percentage of your work time is probably spent answering people’s questions. In fact, a common denominator amongst the ACL Member of the Month brief bio sketches appears to be our collective joy in answering reference questions and pointing people to the information they seek. Do we specifically reflect the image of God in this aspect of our professional work? I think we can find a great deal of support for this idea. Throughout scripture, our Heavenly Father encourages humanity to ask, to inquire of him, to call upon him, and he never fails to patiently respond to those cries. It is comforting to think that we librarians reflect his image as we patiently and lovingly respond to our students’ and patrons’ questions.
C: Clap your hands, all peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy (Psalm 47:1 ESV).
One of my favorite activities at our ACL conference is the worship times we share before each morning’s devotional. They always seem too brief to me. There is something about collective worship that stirs the heart. This taps into something far deeper, however, that pervades the association and each publication, event, or communication. We share a joy and positive outlook that stems from our faith in God and our triumph as his sons and daughters. Our positive, uplifting Christian worldview is on display when we pray for one another, encourage one another, and professionally challenge one another to a higher standard. When we refuse to be defeated by lowered budgets, personal setbacks, or the loss of staff, we show the world and each other yet again that “this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4 NIV).
L: Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else (Isaiah 45:22 KVJ).
Representing a wonderful variety of denominations and faith traditions, ours is a distinctively Christian association for Christian librarians. I remember attending my first conference (Grand Rapids, 2017) and thinking to myself with joy, “These are my people; I’ve found my tribe at last!” We are connected professionally as librarians and spiritually by our belief in “one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by him” (1 Corinthians 8:6 KJV).
Are these three verses that represent ACL connected? Yes! By living Christianly in every aspect of our personal and professional lives, we maintain the Association we all love. And it is in recognizing that the answers to the ultimate questions of the human heart are found by looking to Jesus that we are brought to love and worship Him in triumphant, exuberant praise.
Laura Ladwig
Laura serves as Library Director at the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. She has been an ACL member since 2009 and currently resides in Grand Rapids, MI.