Author: Erin Newton

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Highway of Legends

Links for today’s readings:

Aug 12  Read: Jeremiah 6 Listen (5:10) Read: James 2 Listen: (3:32)

Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 6:16-17

16 This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest for your souls.
    But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 I appointed watchmen over you and said,
    ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
    But you said, ‘We will not listen.’

Reflection: Highway of Legends

By Erin Newton

Once every few years, my family drives from Texas to Colorado. There are a few routes you can go, but we generally prefer to go through New Mexico rather than through Kansas. Why? Mountains. We live in such flat terrain that any sort of large hill is worth celebrating. If we can ever make the trip with extra time to spare, we talk about taking the scenic byway in southern Colorado called the “Highway of Legends.” The route takes you past key places from various Colorado lore—what sounds like a contemporary parallel to Jeremiah’s “ancient paths.”

I assume, despite the pleasures of just seeing mountains in the distance, driving through the byways would be pleasant and restful for my soul.

The language of paths and roads reflects the universal and timeless imagery of life as a journey. Each time we are met with various choices or life experiences, we stand at the crossroads. Jeremiah reminds us to look, think, and ask.

The ancient roads are the good paths. This is not some call to live like it was “in the olden days” or to bring back some bygone “great” era again. The good paths are well-worn by saints who have gone before. They are the tracks through the Red Sea, the routes through the Wilderness, and the footsteps across the Jordan.

Jeremiah is calling the people to remember the One who had led them all this way. God is the ancient path. God is the good way. And if they would simply take his hand and walk alongside, they would find rest for their soul.

I am exhausted lately. Is it my own schedule? Is it the frenzy of summer activities? Is it the state of our economy and the strains on our wallets? Is it the constant need to examine information coming our way: is this real, true, unbiased, fair, good, and worth my time?

I long for rest. I read this verse and scoff at the response of the people, “We will not walk in it.” But I’m sure we are tempted to respond in the same way.

God tells us the ancient path is to trust in him. The ancient path is to see that creation is good. The ancient path is to call out for help. The ancient path is to help one another. The good path is listening to the call of God.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

The earth, O Lord, is full of your love; instruct me in your statutes. — Psalm 119.64

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Maintain Love and Justice

It is not just modern people who notice one justice system for the poor and another for the rich. Hosea saw and condemned it. Ephraim saw and abused it.

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Part of the crisis of abuse within the church is that powerful leaders, in God’s name, shamed their victims into silence.

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Two-Item Wishlist

Links for today’s readings:

Aug 5  Read: Isaiah 65 Listen: (5:00) Read: Psalms 142-143 Listen: (2:35)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 143:8

8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
    for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
    for to you I entrust my life.

Reflection: Two-Item Wishlist

By Erin Newton

In 1 Kings 19, there is a story of an exhausted and downtrodden prophet, Elijah. Fleeing from Ahab and Jezebel, who sought to kill him, he cries out to God, “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life.” But he lies down and falls asleep. An angel wakes him to say, “Get up and eat.” So he eats the divinely supplied bread and water…then goes back to bed. The nap and meal repeat a second time, finally restoring Elijah with energy and hope for the next task.

When decisions seem overwhelming, we often suggest someone should “sleep on it.” We might even cry ourselves to sleep during times of deep sadness. Cranky children are told to take a nap. Our sluggish thinking and snippy attitudes are blamed on a bad night of sleep.

We know that sleep is good for us. But what about the hope of the coming morning? Isn’t that sometimes even more encouraging?

I love this verse for the fact that the night is still assumed. The psalmist is weary from his or her day. Maybe she is existentially exhausted (a phrase I’ve used just this past week). Maybe he is being wrongfully accused or purposely bullied.

Psalm 143.8 is a sigh of resignation—resigned hope that things are not okay right now, that night is coming no matter what, but that the sunrise brings new possibilities. Maybe I’ll feel the love of God tomorrow.

I try to begin my days asking God to make himself known to me, especially when I wake up knowing it will be full of dreaded appointments, hard conversations, and unmet expectations. When I drove to the high-risk pregnancy doctor back in 2016, my only prayer was that I would feel God’s presence in that room. That would sustain me. That would be enough to help me endure.

The psalmist asks for two things: Let me know you love me. Show me what to do. We could live our whole lives just asking God for these two things. A two-item wishlist.

The two requests also function fairly well alone. I can rest in God’s love for me when I do not know what to do or where to go. I can also do what God calls me to do with gritted teeth, not feeling God’s love very clearly at that moment.

When the next sunrise comes, ask God for these two things—love and guidance.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Show your goodness, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are true of heart. — Psalm 125.4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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Songs of Ascent Playlist – Unity Tour

Links for today’s readings:

Jul 31  Read: Isaiah 60 Listen: (3:55) Read: Psalms 132-134 Listen: (2:42)

Links for today’s readings:

Aug 1  Read: Isaiah 61 Listen: (2:23) Read: Psalms 135-136 Listen: (5:03)|
Aug 2  Read: Isaiah 62 Listen: (2:09) Read: Psalms 137-138 Listen: (2:13)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 133:1

1 How good and pleasant it is
    when God’s people live together in unity!

Psalm 134:1

1 Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord
    who minister by night in the house of the Lord.

Psalm 135:1-2

1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord;
    praise him, you servants of the Lord,
2 you who minister in the house of the Lord,
    in the courts of the house of our God.

Reflection: Songs of Ascent Playlist – Unity Tour

By Erin Newton

Each year elite cyclists from around the world compete in Le Tour de France. In our house, it’s practically a holiday. Each day we watch the athletes race through towns, up hills and around curves at ridiculous speeds.

Whenever there is a steep climb on one stage of the race, the first one to the top receives a white and red polka dot jersey to wear on the next day. There are other jerseys: solid white for the best young rider, solid green for the best sprinter, and solid yellow for the overall leader.

Even if most cyclists never wear one of these jerseys, they are all headed to the same place. They arrive at different times, but they celebrate together. Many friendships extend beyond team lines. This year’s leader was heartbroken when a fellow rider broke his collarbone and had to withdraw from the Tour. They wear different jerseys and different sponsor logos but they are like brothers.

In these next few psalms, we have another mountaintop moment—a chorus of singers arrive and join in worship. Psalm 133 aptly proclaims, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.” The psalmist reflects on the diverse and varied community that had taken the trek up to Jerusalem, those who ascended the mountain together.

The next two psalms refer to “all you servants” who minister day and night and in the house and courts of God. All servants. Unity. These are surely words of restoration and worship.

I’ve been involved in church dynamics before that included members seeking to create boundaries or barriers for other believers. There were a series of rules, hoops, or processes that were said to be for the preservation of the faith, but they actually functioned in a divisive way.

I left one day saying, “Surely Jesus didn’t mean our persecution would be from the hands of one another!” How good and pleasant unity is indeed.

In what ways have you been part of a group that discriminated against other travelers on the way to commune with God? Have you been on the receiving end of such discrimination? How has disunity festered among God’s people?

We are all called servants of God, each ministering in our own ways. We are all traveling the same roads from rescue to restoration. May we enjoy the pleasantness of unity in the house of God!

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let those who love your salvation say forever, “Great is the Lord!” — Psalm 70.4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Songs of Ascent Playlist — From War to Peace

Psalm 121 lifts our heads to our destination and source of help and hope. We do not rely on the strength of our legs to make this climb. God will not let us slip.

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We return home with a reoriented reality. The temporary exodus reminds us an eternal one is coming.

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Songs of Ascent Playlist – Joy Chose You

Links for today’s readings:

Jul 29  Read: Isaiah 58 Listen: (3:09) Read: Psalms 126-128 Listen: (1:58)

Scripture Focus:  Psalm 126:1-2 

1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,

    we were like those who dreamed. 

2 Our mouths were filled with laughter.

Psalm 127:1-2

1 Unless the Lord builds the house,

    the builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

    the guards stand watch in vain.

2 In vain you rise early

    and stay up late,

toiling for food to eat—

    for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Psalm 128:1-2

1 Blessed are all who fear the Lord,

    who walk in obedience to him.

2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;

    blessings and prosperity will be yours.

Reflection: Songs of Ascent Playlist – Joy Chose You

By Erin Newton

These three psalms of ascent are mountain peak songs: the rescue is complete; the singer arises out of the valleys of despair and enjoys the glories of restoration.

Laughing and dreaming—the scene probably looks like Maria twirling and singing, “The hills are alive with the sound of music.” It’s pure joy. It’s not only restoration of finances, but also of the soul.

Psalm 127 is the disclaimer amid the hill-frolicking joy. Restored fortunes, restored joy only lasts if it’s built by the Lord.

Finally, Psalm 128 returns to the restoration of blessings.

Restoration plus the Lord equals blessedness.

For those who were reading and singing these songs after the exile or during their routine visits and escapes from everyday duties, taking time for joy is spiritual discipline.

“Count your blessings” is said as a reproof for not being grateful. In other ways, it can be a good reminder to acknowledge the goodness of life here and now.

Donna Ashworth wrote a poem called “Joy Chose You,” which highlights the rarity of joy. Two lines help us here:

             “Joy does not arrive with a fanfare
            on a red carpet strewn
            with the flowers of a perfect life…

             … joy is supposed to slither through
            the cracks of your imperfect life…”

Whenever someone compliments our kids’ behavior or our relationship, my husband and I exchange a calm and knowing smile. Through fire and by God’s grace—that is the only answer we can give them. Like the psalmists here, we have been rescued (this time at least and in this area) so we have been granted moments of restoration and now we worship.

Have you taken time to count your blessings? Do you stop for a moment to acknowledge where God has restored you?

Admittedly, there are still many broken pieces in my life. I am still praying for a way out, a helping hand, an ease to a burden, but so far those are still unanswered.

The songs of ascent remind us that life is not just one mountain to climb but a series of peaks and valleys. We are not on a linear path from rescue to worship; it’s an ebb and flow, an up and down, an ascent and descent.

But here, now, let joy slither into the cracks of your imperfect life. Donna Ashworth says “joy chose you,” and I believe that “our God of joy chose you.”

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Come, let us sing to the Lord; let us shout for joy to the rock of our Salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and raise a loud shout to him with psalms. — Psalm 95.1-2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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Pushovers

Links for today’s readings:

Jul 22  Read: Isaiah 51 Listen: (4:35) Read: Psalm 119.49-72 Listen: (15:14)

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 51:21-23

21 Therefore hear this, you afflicted one,
    made drunk, but not with wine.
22 This is what your Sovereign Lord says,
    your God, who defends his people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
    the cup that made you stagger;
from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,
    you will never drink again.
23 I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
    who said to you,
    ‘Fall prostrate that we may walk on you.’
And you made your back like the ground,
    like a street to be walked on.”

Reflection: Pushovers

By Erin Newton

Songwriters, like poets, have the ability to capture human emotions and bring them to life in new and memorable ways. As heartbreak and being wronged are common mortal ailments, songs that express pain or outrage are some of the greatest bops of all time.

Take for example, the formerly viral song by Gotye, “Somebody That I Used to Know,” the artist belts out:

Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it was always something that I’d done
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know

Or take the classic by Nancy Sinatra, “These Boots Are Made for Walking,” when she learns of the infidelity of her lover, she taunts:

These boots are made for walkin’
And that’s just what they’ll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

The raw emotions portrayed are those of pain and anger. But they’re often the emotions of someone who has already processed the pain, gained a sense of self and regained power to some extent. They find a way out of that former abuse or neglect and they stride out the door to freedom. 

Israel had gotten into bed with other lovers, so to speak. The prophet Hosea gives a vivid picture of how the nation traded loyalty to God for the pleasures of another kingdom. In Isaiah 51, the chapter ends with a stark picture of Israel’s situation. She lay on the ground as her tormentors walked right over her.

In much of the Old Testament, God’s people (collectively and individually) have gotten themselves into such predicaments. But despite their shortcomings, God sees how they’ve been a pushover, weak, and powerless.

We have a term for an easy victory—a walkover. We refer to people who are easily pushed into doing things they might not really want to do—they are walked all over by the aggressor. 

But God has compassion. God promises to reverse the situation, granting power to the powerless and bringing down the haughty. There is a sort of hope in Isaiah that God’s people would gain strength of character and boldness in piety, so much so that they will shake off the shackles of their tormentors. 

Do you find yourself walked over by a friend, family member, abusive partner, or members of an organization? God, the slayer of dragons, will hear you and restore your dignity.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

You are my helper and deliverer; O Lord, do not tarry. — Psalm 70.6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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