Blessed is the person who walks NOT in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of the sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers...
Psalm 1:1
The first Psalm is often titled The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked. I closed the last post with this:
"Two distinctly different landscapes are about to emerge from the canvas. In my mind's eye I see one akin to the dried up, dusty and dying fields depicted in the movie Interstellar. The other painting is of green meadows and streams of clear cool water; vibrant hues from the canvas bringing a sense of warmth.
Diverging paths will be laid out. One leading to life; the other, death. Above all, the Psalmist will make a point that has stuck with me since first pondering this Psalm.
No one begins at the end of the path.
Each is a path of progression."
Tunnels often wind dark and ominous just before the hole of sunlight is revealed at the far end. The Psalmist walks us through such a tunnel in this opening stanza. First up is a downward spiraling progression of failure. As much as I'd like to skip to ...fields of green, red roses too..., this is where the Psalmist takes us... and there is a lesson for living tucked away in the maze.
I have two friends who once found themselves part of a parade. It was not by choice. As if in some silly comedy, they were walking a downtown street one morning, turned a corner and were suddenly smack-dab in the heart of things. It was unplanned and unintentional. Yet there they were, like Ferris Bueller, suddenly part of the parade. (Although neither grabbed a mic and belted out Danke Shoen.)
The point is, at times we find ourselves walking what we feel to be the best route and the crowd streams by, catching us up. We begin to move with the flow, not realizing at first that where the flow is heading contradicts who we are and compromises what we hold true.
And the progression begins.
We all find ourselves caught up in the crowd from time to time. Unplanned. Unintentional. Now heading in the wrong direction.
Do not be deceived, bad company corrupts good morals.
-- 1 Corinthians 15:33
It is a different thing though - a darker and more dangerous thing - when we begin to hang out on the street corners waiting for the parade to pass by. We say to ourselves, "I'll just watch, I'll stay disengaged." But our intentions have evolved. We stand on that corner for one reason: We will join when the opportunity comes.
And the progression continues.
Finally we find ourselves completely engulfed. We become Grand-Marshals of our own destructive parades. And from our little parade-float thrones we look down upon anyone who does not join or walks a different path. We become, as the Psalmist writes, Scoffers; boldly arrogant on the outside, dried up and dusty within.
Well, I've driven the parade analogy completely into the ground at this point. Hopefully I've conveyed the idea of progression. None of us begins by saying, "I'll take the path of destruction, please." It is more subtle and more insidious than that. We begin (either path) with baby steps and stumbles. And our strides grow stronger and longer. The paths we choose become our normal. Our way.
I once read a great quote from Andy Stanley:
OUR DIRECTION DETERMINES OUR DESTINATION
The good news? Jesus blazed a trail of life that we can follow. He can change our direction, and ultimately, our destination.
God, forgive me of marshaling my own parades. Empower me to step off the paths leading to fruitlessness and a dusty, parched life. Set me on paths of life.
For now...
D
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