Staying on the Path

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clear, determined, joy in your presence, life path, mistakes, obscure, paths, prayer, show me, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Yesterday afternoon I had a little time to walk around the grounds at this beautiful retreat and conference center that encompasses 1,400 acres. There are many paths to choose, some mostly sunlit, some deeper in the woods. Some of the paths are clearly marked and some partially obscured by leaves and twigs and undergrowth. They all lead in beautiful directions even though some demand more care in the walking. It was difficult to choose a path yesterday as I needed to be aware of my time limits and sure I could get back to the conference room by 3:00.

Life is sometimes like that. There are paths that I clearly knew to avoid. Other choices are more difficult, especially if some of the stops along the way are not clear in the beginning. At this moment in time I feel as if I am determined on a life path, although my walk is sometimes slow and careful in order to avoid some of the directional mistakes I made in the past. Now my prayer is with the psalmist who sings confidently this morning, Lord, you will show me the path of life, fullness of joy in your presence!

Perspective

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abundance, clear, consciousness, just, perception, perfect, precept, psalm 19, right, the law of God, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, true, trustworthy, understanding, unity, Wisdom School

In reading this morning’s psalm response from the lectionary (PS 19:8-11) I was taken by the refrain (The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.) Even more interesting, I thought, were the descriptive words in the whole text – adjectives to describe the law of God (perfect, trustworthy, right, clear, true and just) and even more, in the last verse, the analogies. (They are more precious than gold, than a heap of precious gold; sweeter also than syrup or honey from the comb.) I started thinking that the psalmist’s attitude toward law was very mature and developed and wondered which laws, exactly, he was discussing. Then I played with the word precept which would have been an interesting interpolation if I had inverted the r and the first e. I would then be on my way to speaking of perception which I think has a lot to do with our attitudes as well…

Trusting that God’s laws exist for our good and flow from love, I can see why the psalmist described them that way. Would that all earthly laws would show us the same face. Still, I think there is a message here, on this day when I am halfway through a “Wisdom School” event where we are attempting to go to a deep place in consciousness in order to see from a stance of unity and abundance rather than duality and scarcity. Perhaps I might do well to reflect on some precept that I find distasteful or annoying and see if I can, by going to the root purpose of it, have a better and more appreciative understanding and acceptance. While probably not a life-changing process for any major laws of the land, this exercise might prove a worthy practice for seeing things more often in a positive light.