Ask for the Old Paths

from my Bible reading this morning:

Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the LORD,
Stand ye in the ways, and see,
and ask for the old paths,
where is the good way,
and walk therein,
and ye shall find rest for your souls.
But they said, We will not walk therein.

Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see –
Let us observe the metaphor.
A traveler is going to a particular city;
he comes to a place where the road divides into several paths,
he is afraid of going astray;
he stops short, – endeavors to find out the right path:
he cannot fix his choice.
At last he sees another traveler;
he inquires of him, gets proper directions –
proceeds on his journey –
arrives at the desired place –
and reposes after his fatigue.
. . .

The soul needs rest;
it can only find this by walking in the good way.
The good way is that which has been trodden
by the saints from the beginning:
it is the old way,
the way of faith and holiness.
Believe,
Love,
Obey;
be holy,
and be happy.
This is the way;
let us inquire for it,
and walk in it.

But these bad people said,
We will not walk in it.
Then they took another way,
walked over the precipice,
and fell into the bottomless pit;
where, instead of rest,
they find: –
– a fiery deluge, fed
With ever-burning sulfur, unconsumed.
Clarke’s Commentary

Published in: on October 23, 2017 at 12:32 pm  Leave a Comment  
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October 4, Today’s thought – Come Ye Aside

july7 shoting 018Fall’s Beauty

Good Morning

Luke 9:10 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.

In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone.
It is not in society that the soul grows most vigorously.
In one single quiet hour of prayer
it will often make more progress
than in days of company with others.
It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest.
~~Andrew Bonar

“Come ye yourselves apart and rest awhile,
Weary, I know it , of the press and throng,
Wipe from your brow the seat and dust of toil,
And in My quiet strength again be strong.

“Come ye aside from all the world holds dear,
For converse which the world has never known,
Alone with Me, and with My Father here,
With Me and with My Father not alone.

“Come, tell Me all that ye have said and done,
Your victories and failures, hopes and fears,
I know how hardly souls are wooed and won;
My choicest wreaths are always wet with tears.

“Come ye and rest; the journey is too great.
And ye will faint beside the way and sink;
The bread of life is here for you to eat,
And here for you the wine of love to drink.

“Then fresh from converse with your Lord return
And work till daylight softens into even;
The brief hours are not lost in which ye learn
More of your Master and His rest in Heaven.”

Rest . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie

Published in: on October 4, 2013 at 11:29 am  Leave a Comment  
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Five Minute Friday – Loud

On Fridays, many weeks I join with Ginny @ The Gypsymama and write.

I never know what will appear. sometimes it is hard to start, sometimes hare to stop. Sometimes I find myself laughing, sometimes crying. Sometimes I am please with my work and I want everyone to see what I have written. Most of the time what I write looks young and needy, waiting to grow.

Ginny says “We finger paint with words. We try to remember what it was like to just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.”

So remember finger painting can be very messy, indeed

Prompt  —  loud

start:

“When the voice in my head is so loud I can’t hear what I’m saying.”

That is the first thought that came to mind when I saw the prompt for today.

The voice in my head

Sometimes I just want to stuff a sock in it’s mouth

Be quiet

Leave me alone

Let me have a little time to find out what I need to know

I’ve listened to you over and over

And I’m still in the same place.  .  .  stuck.

There is a saying if you want different results you have to stop doing what you have been doing.

So, Voice, you need to hush!

I figure out what is good for me.

So I go to my secret place.

I leave the voice and the busyness and the cares

And I meet with the One who said,

“I am the way, the truth and the life”

And I find rest.

stop.

Published in: on March 23, 2012 at 11:50 am  Comments (1)  

The Old Paths and An Old Sewing Machine

This afternoon I sat down for the first time with a 1930-35 Singer Featherweight Sewing machine, a Christmas present from my husband. It is a simple machine – beautiful to me for its simplicity. It sews forward and reverse with just a flip of a lever: down for forward and up for reverse. It came with assorted feet for different sewing techniques; I could identify a rufflier, a zipper foot , and narrow turn hemmer and some feet I’ve never seen before.
As I began to wind the bobbin and thread the machine; I thought of how many women, yea, men who have gone through these same motions, over this, through that , thread goes from right to left through the needle’s eye.
I wondered:
How many miles of thread have flowed through the needle’s eye
Of the hands guiding fabric under the presser foot
Of the items created wedding dresses, aprons, pillow cases, baby clothes, work shirts, school clothes, Sunday best and, of course, quilts
Of the piles and piles of mending
Of the seamstress….what were her thoughts joy, anticipation, grief, weariness?
Did she pray for the ones wearing the clothing?
Did she sing songs of joy?
Did she sew through her tears?

The phrase from the Bible “the old paths” came to mind and I found it in Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

The old paths        The good way

Many times I check Clarke’s Commentary with this verse I found this:
There is an excellent sermon on these words in the works of our first poet, Geoffrey Chaucer; it is among the Canterbury Tales, and is called Chaucer’s Tale. The text, I find, was read by him as it appears in my old MS. Bible: – Standith upon weies and seeth, and asketh of the olde pathes; What is the good weie? and goth in it, and gee schul fynden refreschimg to your soulis. The soul needs rest; it can only find this by walking in the good way. The good way is that which has been trodden by the saints from the beginning: it is the old way, the way of faith and holiness. Believe, Love, Obey; be holy, and be happy. This is the way; let us inquire for it, and walk in it. But these bad people said, We will not walk in it. Then they took another way, walked over the precipice, and fell into the bottomless pit; where, instead of rest, they find: – – a fiery deluge, fed With ever-burning sulfur, unconsumed.

I remembered family and friends who walked in the old paths, who walked in the good way and remembered being encouraged and blessed by their examples.

As I continued to sew my little project of binding Christmas placemats recycled from a table runner purchased from the thrift shop – I set myself to add to the miles of thread and cloth guided under the presser foot and to follow those gone before on the old paths.

Published in: on December 19, 2010 at 6:40 pm  Leave a Comment