Wednesday 23 February 2022

Psalm 85

 Background

I am looking forward to my sabbatical in April during which I will be spending time walking St Oswald's Way – from the end to the beginning in order to complete my pilgrimage walk on Lindisfarne.

I have walked parts of the 97 mile route in the past but never the whole walk in one attempt. I have bought new boots for the occasion and am currently breaking them in.

I know that the route will be peppered with stiles and gates, fields and tracks, roads and coastal paths. It won’t be easy – but no one said it would be!

I particularly wanted to end the journey on the holy island of Lindisfarne a liminal place where, when the tide rolls in and the mainland in inaccessible by road, a sense of the holy can be perceived by those with eyes to see and ears to hear. It is, for me, a life- enhancing, spiritual place – and walking there may well be hard.

Jesus said "The road is hard that leads to life." If you want to experience life in all fullness, and Jesus meant really experience it, then you have to be prepared to give your all, put some energy into walking the way and allow the person and /or stranger alongside you to help and support you in that aim. Who knows, it may be the Lord himself in the guise of a stranger as the two on the Emmaus Road realised (see Luke 24: 13–35).

To Ponder:

• Take time to think about the things you are facing at the moment, and try to see where God is for you.
• Is there someone who would appreciate a word, a call or a text from you today to help them along life’s journey?

Listen

‘Through Life's Journey’

by Drew Greenway

Prayer

Lord, the road may be hard, but you have blessed it with your footprints in which you invite me to walk. Give me eyes to perceive you as I journey through life. Amen.