Ancient Paths in New Shoes

This image is on many websites. I got it from this one.

Jeremiah 6: 16

"Thus says the Lord:

Stand at the crossroads, and look,

And ask for the ancient paths,

Where the good way lies;

And walk in it,

And find rest for your souls."

I found the link for the group spiritual direction (GSD) workshop in a school alumni e-mail. The Shalem Institute offers GSD workshops, and others like them, to train whomever feels so led to  do work in spiritual direction. They also serve as spaces of healing and refreshment regardless of the motive for signing up.

We held Jeremiah's words in the holy space of our circle today with the encouragement to see what stood out. While I did not feel particularly tired during the session, my emotions shouted at me with "and find rest for your souls." 

My life of late often leaves me exhausted at the end of the day. When I am "on" at work, the day more often than not follows me home, sometimes disrupting my sleep. With my time "off," the days grow as full, and I drift into dreams not realizing I fell asleep in the first place. 

Because I want to find this rest for my soul, I wonder who I "ask for the ancient paths." God, of course, but who else? I like the non-need for creativity or productivity inherent in the statement. I don't have to be a trailblazer, an inventor, a visionary - I simply need to have the humility to ask where it is I need to walk - the trail has already been blazed and from all reports - it is a "good way" to go.

Since it's the Bible and I align myself with Christianity, I totally read Jesus into it (though He would not be alive for hundreds of years). He journeyed the path before any of us, made sure the way was good and then set to telling people about it and walking along with them. 

Sometimes the ancient paths aren't rocket science, i.e., I'm exhausted, the ancient path equates to going to sleep, on time and with at least 9 hours before I need to be up; but other times we need a person or people to show us where the good way lies. 

In these moments, the Love of God comes to us through community and our ability to open our lives to the community and ask for the paths we need to find. . .because they are there, waiting for us to walk in them.

PRACTICE

Lectio Divina: Read through the passage at the top of the post after a few deep breaths and pay attention to any word or phrase which sticks out for you. Read through again and pay attention to anything further you notice about the word/phrase and how it applies to you. Read through again and spend time in prayer with the word/phrase asking God what you need to understand/know/do with the word/phrase (i.e., How might God be guiding you? What needs your further action? Where may your understanding need to be changed or expanded? How may this impact your relationship with someone else?). End with a time of thanksgiving.