Singing Scripture Part 3

 

One of my favorite spirituals is, Guide my feet.  In our New Century Hymnal, the scriptural reference for this hymn is Hebrews 12, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”  Later on, the chapter continues, “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees and make smooth paths for your feet, so that what is limping may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”  And if you lay alongside these words of Scripture, the first verse, “Guide my feet while I run this race, guide my feet while I run this race.  Guide my feet while I run this race, for I don’t want to run this race in vain.”  What stirs in my sacred imagination is this invitation for God to guide and ground us every day ~ all our movements!  Not just my feet, but my hands, my heart, my words, my thoughts (especially those thoughts of being too critical or cynical of self/others).  God may start at my feet, but I long for God to guide my whole life.  The direction I point my toes and my soul is toward the Divine ~ because God is already there; and is here; no matter where I am.  When I put this hymn in conversation with Hebrews 12, I am reminded that I am not the first to walk this road.  Sometimes in our world, to be authentic or unique, we want to stand out.  But the truth is that others have walked this road before.  I think of another great spiritual, “Jesus walked this lonesome valley…he had to walk it all alone…oh, nobody else could walk it for him…he had to walk it by himself.”  When I feel lonely, isolated, confused, and confounded by the world, Jesus felt the pain of the world.  If we study the ground we walk, we will see signs of footprints of our ancestors ~ the great cloud of witnesses who go before us and are still around us. 

 

What wisdom from the road did your grandparents teach and tell you?  My grandparents taught me about saving money (I vividly remember my grandmother saving twist ties from bread because you never knew when those would come in handy…and she saved the plastic bread bag too!!)  My grandmother recycled, reused, repurposed before there was ever an Earth Day.  My grandparents lived through the Depression.  My parents lived through the tumultuous sixties and gas lines of the seventies and the economic downturn of the eighties, so they too left imprints about economics on me.  We may think we have taken the road less traveled, only to spy and spot signs of life that has come before us ~ which might be human or animal or another part of God’s creation.  I am also taken by the last words of Guide my Feet ~ “For I don’t want to run this race in vain.”  This race/life/moment isn’t just about me.  Hold that statement, because so much of the gospel of our culture preaches and teaches the exact opposite.  You deserve to have it your way, you deserve a break today, because America runs on Dunkin ~ so get your caffeine fix now and post to Insta-gram so others will see.  My ego doesn’t like that last line.  My ego wants to be complimented and told that I am right.  As you travel life’s road today, what signs of our ancestors do you spot and spy?  When does your auntie’s voice offer you wisdom for what you are facing?  When does your ego become the proverbial bull in the glass shop breaking everything?  Let Scripture and Song stir your soul ~ may this passage and hymn become a prayer we live today.  Amen.