But...
Psalm 1:2
Your Direction Determines Your Destination... (Andy Stanley - no relation). This is both bad and good news.
BUT is a strong word. It is a stake in the ground. The moment of transition.
I used to think that... BUT now I think this...
I was heading east... BUT now I'm headed west...
I was lost... BUT now am found... (To quote the old hymn).
BUT strongly sets two directions apart. BUT is the monument stone marking the last step of one journey and the first of another.
The first picture painted in the Psalm One is that of a progression downward. It is the journey to failure - where wrong decision leads to playfully dark intention, and finally to distorted, ugly motivation.
BUT
There is another path. It is a path of vibrant life. It is not a path of religious rules; marked with signs blaring don't this, or don't that... think (and vote) this way... you better, or else.... No, it is a path of relationship and freedom.
In the final post on the first Psalm we'll look at the different landscapes of these paths. For now, let's get back to BUT, remembering that it is our DIRECTION THAT DETERMINES OUR DESTINATION.
BUT is the change of direction. It is the pivot between the last step of one and the first of another - a turning of our back, and the facing of a new direction. The good news? BUT can happen any time. This moment can be BUT. Right now... change of direction. We may say, "But (no relation to BUT), I've gone too far down this path, I can never get to the new destination." Again good news, though there is a final destination (to again quote the hymn, "When we've been there 10,000 years..."), the true destination is the path itself - the destination of a joyful journey.
The Psalmist writes of the righteous person (the new-path-walker), "His delight is in the instruction of the Lord." The BUT - the turn, the direction change - occurs when we dig in our heals and say to the sky* "I'm done. I've walked the path of my making. And I am dry inside like straw sitting too long in the sun. Let's walk together. Where you lead, I'll go."
Then step...
Your DIRECTION WILL DETERMINE YOUR DESTINATION.
God, help me daily to make the pivot from myself to you (which always leads to a turn toward others).
For now...
D
*By sky, I mean the One who resides in the heavens and the earth, our hearts and minds and every atom that makes up every molecule. In a word: the God of the Universe (ok, in five words).
