Woodland meditations

Next to my picture in my high school yearbook is a quote from a poem by Robert Frost: "...Two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less travelled by; and that has made all the difference..." I didn't know why I chose that particular quote at that time; I just liked it-- nor did I know that, the summer after I graduated, such a choice of divergent paths would indeed come to me and mark my life as different forever after. I was thinking about that verse today as I took a walk at Bluff Point State Park in Groton, CT. The park has a path that follows the shoreline out to the seaside bluff, but it also has a less travelled path up a hill and through the woods that also eventually leads to the bluff. Smiling as I remembered that poem, I took the less travelled path today....

As I mounted the initial hill, I noted an immediate change. There was suddenly a reverent hush around me, as I left the more crowded path. I had been surrounded, up to that point, with alot of other people; bikers, riders on horseback, yelping dogs, crying children, people conversing, etc. I'd observed that very few of them seemed conscious of their surroundings, as they were so taken up in conversations, or in reaching the end of whatever form of exercise they were diligently pursuing. But now, as I entered upon the more solitary path, my own pace lessened a bit as I became aware of the quiet beauty all around me. Unhurried now, I listened more as I walked. The gentle wind in the leaves of the trees seemed to be harmoniously singing with the songbirds. My steps tred more gently on the path so as not to block out the lovely sound of the woods. I took the time to sit for a while on a small bench, and allowed myself to simply BE for 10 minutes. The stillness was so peaceful, and I realized it had been this, even more than exercise that had drawn me to the quiet woods in the first place. Why are we always in such a hurry? Why do we allow ourselves to be so rushed through life; to the point where we have no time to enjoy it? A friend of mine once wisely reminded me that 'God had made us human BEings, not human DOings.' I thought that was so wise then, and am reminded of it often when I find activity crowding out meaningful meditative moments in my life.

The road-less-taken for me, was following Jesus; a calling I received in August after my senior year of HS, 1975. There was just something about those Christians in the Bible study I had begun attending, which made me want to go back again and again--even if they did seem a bit weird to me--talking directly to God and all.... What was it? Why were they so happy? What made them so loving and welcoming to a stranger like me? It wasn't so much what they did, or how much they talked--it was something more intangible, which I now realized I longed for----peace. And not just any peace, specifically peace with God...They weren't struggling or seeking to find God, like I was; they were celebrating His having already revealed Himself to them by a 'Holy Spirit' they talked alot about. And sing? I'd never met grown ups who loved singing more, or who did so with so much joy...I just had to have this Holy Spirit--I had to find peace with God. So, I did what they told me. I humbled myself and I asked. I knew I wasn't worthy; that I had sinned against a Holy God. But amazingly I was assured that Jesus KNEW all about my sin, and had died in order for me to be cleansed of them. All I had to do was confess my sins, invite Jesus to take control of my life as my Lord (being prepared to obey Him) and then ask the Holy Spirit to come live inside me, giving me the ability to follow and obey Jesus which I lacked when left to myself. --I did---and He was faithful to receive me as his child. For, "As many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on His name... (John 1:12 KJV)

All these things I thought about today as I sat on the bench. Where had that quiet peace, that inner reassurance gone? Had I become so taken up with DOing the Christian life---that I had stopped knowing how to simply BE a Christian? Something a new Christian is taught is that they must 'witness' or tell others about the amazing things God has done for Mankind, by sharing the gospel with them. So often times, one can fall into a mindset that begins to have us believing our peace with God now depends on our behaving ourselves and doing Christian works, or witnessing. We fall ito false condemnation when we fail to live up to our own false expectations of what a good Christian should 'do'. I thought of this today and recalled something someone else had taught me---that Jesus told His disciples, 'You shall BE my witnesses..' (Acts 1:8) He never said, 'you shall DO witnessing'. For when our hearts are full of belief in the glorious truths of the Gospel--that someone has already paid in full the price we owed God---not only the death we deserved for our sins, but also lived the righteous life in our stead which we could never work up----we can't but be full of joy all day long--and such joy is a magnet; it 'witnesses' to those around us that what we believe must be true--or it is at least worth investigating further... Such joy says more than our words ever could....

The sermon in church today was based upon Psalm 127, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it....for He giveth His beloved sleep...(rest)" My walk continued on, eventually leading out to what was once the home of the Govenor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony--Gov John Winthrop Sr. He later bequeathed the house to his son who became Govenor of Connecticut, Gov. John Winthrop Jr. Despite being a well-made house that lasted several hundred years, it was totally wiped out in the now infamous Hurricane of 1938. The land had once belonged to the King of England, before passing into the ownership of the Sr Winthrop. What is amazing is that, despite all the time that has passed, and all the tragedy that has befallen it, it can still be located and identified as having been the home of the Winthrops, and former property of the King. How can this be? The foundation remains to this day. Regardless what may be built upon it or not, it is that foundation which was laid and which remains which belies anyone to lay claim to anything different. Our Lord told a parable about houses being built upon either sand or rock, and which would remain and which would be utterly destroyed when the hurricane came. In that parable, (Matt 7: 24-27) it is the foundation that was laid in the beginning which was known to make all the difference in the end. This house's foundation was made of rock-and it testifies-it witnesses, to this day as to who the Master of the house is; who can lay claim to the property. So with us. If the Lord has laid His foundation in our heart, He has not built in vain there. Herein is our confidence and 'sleep'/ rest He has given us...

Over the years, some of those from my original Bible study group have gone off in another direction, and built up strange edifices upon the original foundation that was laid---the foundation of Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 3:11) It can be painful and upsetting to think that those who led me to peace with God could wander away themselves down a different path later. However, I was comforted looking at that foundation today. The house is destroyed, as well as any outward proof of who the rightful owner of the property is--but the foundation remains, and testifies to the truth. Thus would the Apostle Paul want us to be comforted as well as we meditate upon that scene, and the words of (1 Cor 3: 10-15) "...as a wise masterbuilder, I laid a foundation and another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds upon it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident, for The Day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet, so as through fire..." How can this be? Timothy tells us: " Nevertheless, the FIRM foundation of God stands, having this seal: The LORD knows them that are His...." (2 Tim 2:19)

It is the foundation, saving faith in the Lord Jesus, that will save us in the day of God's wrath that is coming. Not our works--however good they may be--nor will the lack of good works condemn us. (Consider the thief on the cross who had no time for good works. (Luke 23:33, 39-43) It is the work of Jesus Christ, and Him alone, and our faith in the complete adequacy of His work, which will save us in the hurricane to come. I know who the King is who my wayward friends belong to. He will recognize His own handiwork in the end.....Still, it is always wise to ask those we meet: What foundation is your life built upon?....

As I turned to head back down the path to home, I saw something I'd not noticed on the way out. Lots of broken down stone walls all along the way. Someone had worked hard several hundred years ago as they cleared their land for crops, lugging those big stones to the edge of the fields to build up a boundary wall. They had worked with skill, for, though not completely intact, those walls still stood to 'witness' to their labor. I recalled the weeping before the Lord of Nehemiah when he had been told that the boundary wall of Jerusalem had been broken down. (Nehemiah 1:3-11) Nehemiah was grieved that the city which was once known in the world as the City of God in the earth, was now exposed, and overrun by her enemies. God's name and glory had become a thing of mockery among the nations because of the unfaithfulness of His people. Nehemiah, whose name means 'comforter', and, as such is a picture of the Holy Spirit at work in the Old Testament, was grieved in his heart. Nehemiah did more than feel badly, however; he did more than weep; he interceeded on behalf of God's people. He came alongside them, became one with them in their sorrow and pain, and entered into their efforts by rebuilding the walls with them. That wall in Jerusalem represents the moral wall in our hearts. Have we allowed the enemy to overrun us, and disgrace God's name that we bear? Our comforter wants to come alongside, and lead us in the rebuilding process. He does not stand aloof from us, condemning us. He grieves for and with us, loves us, and wants to comfort us as we rebuild the wall together. "Yet, there is much rubbish, and we ourselves are unable to rebuild..." (Neh 4:10) the people almost despaired....And so will we if we focus on all the 'rubbish' in our lives. We must look away from ourselves, our failures, however dishonoring to God we have been. Look to Jesus, who in at the right hand of God interceeding for us, and begin, like the Jewish people did---each one building right where they were. In their own home area first. It would have been overwhelming for any of them to think of making all the repairs. But God only asked each one to do their own part. By being obedient to that call, the wall was eventually rebuilt. And so in the church. Personal revival is the basis for all true corporate revival. Sometimes, we look like the Church in Sardis--(Rev 3:1)-having the name of being alive, but we are dead.....at times it all seems hopeless. At such times, we must remember the Valley of Dry Bones..(Eze 37:1-10) Like those bones we in the church are just as dead, dry and lifeless at times as well. We well wonder if such lifeless bones can ever live again....'THOU knowest, O God...'

God asks us to have faith---not in the ability of the bones to live, but in He who is able to give new life--and that more abundantly (John 10:10) When faith in God wells up in us, we are to prophesy by faith in our God, that they---that WE, SHALL indeed live again, and gain the victory which is ours in Christ!! The victory is ours, it is as sure as the resurrected Jesus sitting on His Father's throne, and it is ETERNAL, Hallelujah.....

"...Thus says the Lord, 'Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life....'" (Eze 37:9)