Living in the Spirit
June 22, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

Your way was through the sea,
   your path, through the mighty waters;
   yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock
   by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
—Psalm 77:19-20

We are called to follow Christ’s way which is God’s way and apparently according to this Psalm it is a path through the sea. A raging sea is dangerous; a placid sea provides life nurturing peace. The sea is very akin to life with both challenges and joys.

When I read this scripture for today, I flashed back to the conversation I had with the first orthopedic surgeon that examined my sick and damaged knees. I was walking four miles a day for exercise at the time and he said that had to stop. He recommended swimming, noting that I could do more work with less effort because the water supported me. So I switched to swimming every morning before I went to work. At the Y where I swam, the lanes were marked by a wide stripe the length of the pool with a cross on the wall at either end. I do not think the Y had painted the pool to support my daily meditation, but it did. My 30-minute swim always targeted at those crosses prepared me for my day. I continued that for several years until April 19, 1995 when the Oklahoma City bombing, not only destroyed the federal building, but also my Y, just two hours after I had completed my laps for that day. God was and is continuing to be ever present with the people of this city and all those impacted by the bombing and, yes, we once again have a new and improved downtown Y with crosses at the end of each lap.

We live in troubling times and we need to hold tightly to the assurance that following God’s way is our best hope for an abundant life of love. God’s love supports us in everything we encounter in life as we follow God’s path.

Prayer:
Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness,
Make thy way plain before my face.
For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord, only,
that makest me dwell in safety*. Amen.

*Lead Me, Lord words based on Psalms 5:8; 4:8, Music by Samuel S. Wesley.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.