Prepare Straight Paths for the Lord!

Prepare Straight Paths for the Lord.

I am re-reading The Gospel of Mark which starts, well, startlingly

“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”^[d]

How does one prepare straight paths for the Lord?

                                                * * *

And therein lies the beauty and richness of Scripture—the answer varies according to gender, culture, and historic period. It varies according to the seasons in our lives. This is what I thought last year.

For me, the answer today is “Pace yourself. Slow down.”

Christians (perhaps particularly those who have had an experience of the Holy Spirit, like my first one, though of course, the Holy Spirit respects no templates, see Gordon Fee’s experience) have the Holy Spirit within us, “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

A spring is an apt metaphor. It can get clogged with rubbish and debris. Do you remember Marcel Pagnol’s beautiful Manon of the Spring, in which the idealistic young would-be farmer’s farm is desertified and fails because of the spring blocked by concrete by those who wanted his land?

Busyness does that for me. Chokes up the springs of the spiritual life—of thankfulness, of seeing God in little things, of clear thinking, of joy.

Sometimes, I go on a prayer walk, and I think, “This hardly qualifies as prayer. My thoughts are a racing, incoherent jumble.” So I credit the intention to pray as prayer, and walk, slowly calming down, my thoughts slowing down.

And then, as if from a secret spring within me, I find myself praying in tongues, and joy begins to seep up, and calm and surrender.

And all this would have been forfeited if I hadn’t stopped to slow down.

·      * * *

This has been an exceptionally busy half-term—daily blogging; writing a chapter in a book; meeting a number of blog readers and fellow bloggers; leading two sessions of our small group; hosting a complex sleepover in tents for Irene’s 13^th birthday; the whirl of social life—garden parties and barbeques which step up in England when the weather is supposed to be good; a major purchase (a camper van!); and of course the usual busyness of motherhood, domesticity and keeping up the wildly growing garden!!

Funny, when I am doing too much, even lovely things--and most of my busy things this month were lovely--I enjoy them less. I guess it’s like when I upgraded to buying relatively expensive but ridiculously comfortable shoes, or luxurious cashmere sweaters or “Tiffany” lamps. The first purchase delighted me, but each successive one brought less joy, became more ho-hum.

So I guess I will have to go back to pacing my social life to two intense lunches or coffees or dinners with friends per week. For deep conversation sparks my creativity and brings joy. Less than that, and I begin to get a bit bored and restless with just family and writing. More than that is distracting, and eventually I begin to enjoy everything a little bit less.

To say no to good things to focus on the best things is a lesson I have been trying to learn for years, with many, many failures. But I am still alive and so capable of learning--so I am going to add it to the  long-term projects—the long trudging in the same direction-- which I am persisting in, despite many failures.

And these include

1)   A house in which everything is both beautiful and useful and in which everything is in the right place

2)   Physical health, strength and endurance, and shedding some of my toxin-storing extra pounds. Relatively healthy eating.

3)   A disciplined schedule which has time for much reading and much writing.

4)   A permaculture garden, full of perennial fruit and vegetables and flowers.

These are all long-term projects and commitments, in which a failure is like stepping off the trail for a brief meander. Not final, not a disaster. Since I have unshakeably committed to these long-term Inca Trails, after a little dalliance in the fields of weak resolve, I just “strengthen my feeble arms and weak knees” (Heb 12:12) and persist.

A slow pace of life opens the door for the Holy Spirit. You are, of course, far more likely to be able to sense the presence of God in a slow, quiet day than an over-scheduled one.

As A-type personalities, naturally driven and intense, who are trying to slow down our pulses, schedules and lives, Roy and I frequently need to remind ourselves and each other to slow down enough to make straight pathways for the Lord to our restless, busy hearts.

How about you? What is the best way you’ve found to make straight paths for the Lord?