Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Journey without End....

Once again, I want to share a devotion I have in an old book from the Upper Room for the season of Lent.
Beth A. Richardson wrote it way back in 1993 for a magazine called: "Alive Now!"  It is no longer available in print, so I want to share it with you...it's pretty profound if you let the words sink into your soul....

Journey Without End
"I grew up thinking that I could and would attain perfection if only I tried hard enough and was very good.  (In fact, I had lived a perfect life until I went to college!)
But, I discovered that I was not perfect and never would be.
The journey toward perfection was a stark road, full of "don'ts" and "shoulds"...full of hairshirts and punishments.
Now that I am grown, I read about things like singleness of purpose and purity of heart.  My tendency is to place these virtues in the same category as perfection --unattainable fantasies.
But in some special moments, I feel a sense of the Holy One:  a sense of the divine presence, and I have a glimpse of what it means to walk with God on the path of holiness.
When I am quiet enough inside to notice a sunset, to hear the early morning sounds, to know when a friend needs someone to listen, I am for a moment participating in God's journey.  I think that this is singleness of purpose -- being with God on God's journey.
The journey of holiness is not a journey with a beginning or an end.  It is a path which winds alongside our own roads.  And when we are in tune with God and ourselves, we sometimes find ourselves on that path.  It is a richly beautiful road of oneness with God."

(I have NO idea what a "hairshirt" is, so if any of you reading this, please share the meaning....It is not listed in my 1973 dictionary from college!  Ha! ha!)

The book I got this beautiful devotion from is called Readings for Lent and Easter, compiled by the Upper Room ministries.  I have read this book every Lenten season since 1993 and each year the devotions speak to my heart.  I pray that these words and thoughts will touch yours as well.

Blessings abound, if only we have eyes to look up and Praise God for them!!!

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