You are most likely to be familiar with the saying, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” As a literal undertaking or as a metaphorical notion, the idea of a journey is embedded in what it means to be human.
Life is a journey.
Another famous saying connected to this thought emphasises that, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey”. However, that way of thinking does not square with a Christian understanding of our walk through this world. To explore this idea I’d like to dip into a small collection of Psalms that are entitled the “Songs of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134). The ‘ascents’ alluded to here are most likely to be the ones made by Israelites who journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the great annual festivals (see Leviticus 23). Presumably, these songs were sung along the way and marked the progress of the journey and expressed the concerns of the pilgrims as they remembered those at home and anticipated their arrival and experience in Jerusalem.
Eugene Peterson says that this group of Psalms enable us to reflect on two biblical definitions for the people of God that are extremely useful: disciple and pilgrim (from his book, “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction").
Disciple says we are people who spend our lives apprenticed to our master, Jesus Christ. We are in a growing, learning relationship with him, always.
Pilgrim tells us we are people who spend our lives going someplace. We are going to God, and the path for getting there is the Way, Jesus Christ.
So let’s take the first step on this journey. And to help us make it we turn to the first song in the collection, Psalm 120. It is not a beautiful song. It is harsh. It is discordant. But it gets us started.
Psalm 120 doesn’t actually speak of going on a pilgrimage. It does, however, express the feelings of a homesick person who has settled in a strange land. “Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kebar! Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak they are for war” (verses 5-7). The psalmist is in despair about the surroundings he finds himself in and longs to be in a better place. He recognises that the first step is to turn his back on the lifestyle he has chosen up until this point.
The word the Bible uses for the moment we turn from our foolish ways to God and the life of his kingdom is repentance.
Before I can follow the way of God and the right paths he has set for me (Psalm 23:3), I must turn from the self-centred course that I have travelled to date. There is therefore genius in making Psalm 120 the opening “song of ascents”.
The first step on the journey to God begins with a radical “about turn.”
This is set out beautifully in a passage from the Yom Kippur liturgy entitled, “The Gates of Repentance.”
''Now is the time for turning. The leaves are beginning to turn from green to red to orange. The birds are beginning to turn and are heading once more toward the south. The animals are beginning to turn to storing their food for the winter. For leaves, birds and animals, turning comes instinctively. But for us, turning does not come so easily. It takes an act of will for us to make a turn. It means breaking old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong, and this is never easy. It means losing face. It means starting all over again. And this is always painful. It means saying I am sorry. It means recognising that we have the ability to change. These things are terribly hard to do. But unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday's ways.
Lord help us to turn,
from callousness to sensitivity,
from hostility to love,
from pettiness to purpose,
from envy to contentment,
from carelessness to discipline,
from fear to faith.
Turn us around, O Lord, and bring us back toward you. Revive our lives as at the beginning, and turn us toward each other, Lord, for in isolation there is no life.''
(Picture - Rannoch Moor)
No comments:
Post a Comment