pathway

pathway
Give me my scallop-shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My script of joy, immortal diet,
M
y bottle of salvation.
My gown of glory, hopes true gauge,
And thus I'll take my pilgrimage.

~Sir Walter Raleigh

A hiker, walking for pleasure, likes to choose between several alluring trails.
The pilgrim desires only the road that leads home.

~Frank W. Boreham


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Wishing You a 'Mary' Sort of Day


We are busy people.  Too busy 'with many things'.  At days' end we come unraveled from the day's spinning.  We are, alas, people of our world and reflections of it.  We are 'pressed into the world's mold'.  All around us is noise and bother, commotion and careening, lists and goings. 

Then in the whispered way come the reminders - all is done wrong and out of order.  Once more it is time to right ourselves by taking quick stock, by asking ourselves what truly is of value, of importance.  Are we choosing 'the better part'?

Granted, we are not all called to the cloister, we are not all permitted, due to life's demands and duties, the privilege of literally sitting in quiet at The Feet. At least not for long periods of time.  Yet, we can refuse to be caught up in what is needless. We can fix our sights on what is essential, of worth and of lasting value.  

As the Quaker's teach, we can center our souls and spirits in the quiet, in the Eternal. A phrase our pastor used keeps echoing in my ears.. "to pay attention, to look for the hiddeness of God in our daily lives.  That would be in the small things, the quiet things, the things we overlook because of hurry. These are the things that remind us who we are and Whose we are.

This takes a direct act of the will, I know, but when paying attention in this way,  our focus is returned to clarity and our lives are brought back in balance.

All this brings to mind the words of beloved poet John Greenleaf Whittier:

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

O for lives of order..
O for lives that confess and reflect His calm and beauty in the midst of a world's flurry and fuss.
____
Lovely image of calm by Mitzi Schindele

3 comments:

  1. " the hiddeness of God in our daily lives" Lovely! Thank you once again for your thoughts. It is always a blessing to read your words of wisdom. I truly glean much; your blogs are always so well written.

    ReplyDelete