“And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.”
Isaiah 35:8 NLT
We have three core principles for St Cuthbert’s Oratory. The first is that we walk in the way of God. If we imagine life as a road leading from birth to death, we have an invitation to follow God’s highway of holiness or build our own road through the landscapes of our life. As with any road along which we travel, we cannot help notice the landscape we pass through. We can also stop at any point, turn about and return from where we came, or keep moving forward, regardless of obstacles that are not of our own making.
I too often find myself driven by an internal clock which wants to determine my need to hurry along so as to achieve my next task. No sooner do I sit to pray than my mind directs its attention to what essential tasks I’ve not completed. Unless I check such a thought, it has the power entirely to disrupt my prayer. Then there’s the conflict between what appear different realms; my spiritual life, my work life, my social life and my family life. While differentiation helps when knowing for which sphere I’m planning, I am in fact an integrated person. Yet, I often fail to establish an integrated approach to how I live my life. This failure generates stress, irritability and confusion.
God’s way is cohesive. As I continue upon his way I discern, then discover, God’s presence in every sphere of my life, a presence that knits and holds everything together in one single activity of loving and serving God. We are still exploring what walking God’s way means in practice. Walking the way of God is not about living among the guilt-laden shadows of moral imperatives. It is rather discerning and then choosing to live as God is calling each of us to live. It addresses every area of our life.
QUESTION
How is God calling you to live for him?
PRAYER
Lord, may every area of my life be for your glory.
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