Over the River and Through the Woods...the Wayfarer 11/16

Over the River and Through the Woods
11/16

Jeremiah 6:16

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁶ Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

There is an old childhood song that reverberates through my mind at this time each year, one learned in the early years of my own education, still sung by the upcoming generation of youngsters in anticipation of the holiday that is soon upon us.

It is a reminder of the delight of this special time shared with family and friends, a delight that included the pies and cakes that were lovingly baked by hands wrinkled with age, twisted with that same age with the efforts of a life lived that came with austerity and sacrifice so that that same austerity and sacrifice need not be endured by their children for whom their loving labor was given.

Those gatherings were never marred by any disrespect shown by either children or grandchildren, but were, as intended, a time of respect and love for each other.

The old song speaks of the trip to that special gathering, and the long and pleasing nature of that trip, as the anticipation of what was to come allowed no boredom, no ennui, no worry or concern, but reflected the joy, pure and unadulterated that was expected by traveling an old and well-worn route, one that though long was also well known to the travelers without fear of safety either during the process of the trip or on arrival at the much sought destination.

Though the trips made to those special places are no longer possible, grandparents having passed on, family scattered to the four winds to raise their own new generation of children and grandchildren, they are neither forgotten nor abandoned in the heart of this old preacher as the world rushes onward toward another gathering yet to come.

Though the same songs are sung, the importance of those songs seems to have diminished.

Though the path still exists, though partially obscured in the wake of super highways, there seems to be fewer and fewer that bother to seek those paths out for their travel, travel to a far different destination than the one lauded in song of childhood.

Respect, for those paths, and for those that blazed them is far more difficult to find, as is the joy that was not only anticipated, but delivered once that destination was reached.

Appreciation for those wrinkled hands and their labor has been, in large part replaced by disdain for both the effort given by those hands and the results of that labor, as too many fail to see the need for any austerity or sacrifice within themselves, yet expect it from all others around them.

The respect that was demanded and given the older generation was EARNED, the rewards of their labor was exactly that, never conceded to be inherent right to be squandered, but instead something to be built upon by those who gathered together in appreciation of the bounty granted them by God that was the fruit of that labor.

The thread that held those gatherings together was visible in the prayer for further blessings offered BEFORE partaking in the blessings already given.

Thanks were always offered for that bounty, in recognition of the Creator who had allowed that labor to be fruitful.

At the end of those feasts, all hands turned to the chores in unity of purpose, to make sure that no further effort was demanded of those wrinkled and aged hands and that appreciation was understood by their owners.

The times then were simpler, perhaps, than now, or perhaps priorities were more evident to that time than now… either way there was no intrusion of disquietude introduced, love accepted and love given in return.

There was a conscious choice to take that old path made, to pursue that destination and the joy that awaited, and a conscious choice to recognize the need to continue to travel that path year after year.

We still travel over the rivers and through the woods, to various destinations determined by the individuals who all too often choose not to walk in the old paths and ways, and therefore cannot hope to arrive at the destination sought then, lovingly prayed for by those same wrinkled and work-worn hands.

John 14

King James Version (KJV)

14 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

² In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

⁴ And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

⁵ Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The joy expected, anticipated by a child in expectation of the feast and warmth of their grandparent’s home and a visit there, is minuscule when compared to the joy anticipated and expected joy that awaits in our FATHER’s home.

As we travel over the river and through the woods toward that home, it is not for a visit only, but for a permanent residence, not for the temporary joy of a short period of sharing of love, but an eternal sharing of that love.

The path is well blazed, well worn, well-marked, though quite narrow, as it leads to only one destination rather than many as do the superhighways that are so alluring to so many, that yet cannot get us to that destination.

To arrive where we may again experience that same joy of childhood, but on a far greater scale there is but ONE WAY, ONE TRUTH leading to ETERNAL LIFE.

To arrive there we must again choose to travel the old path as set forth by that WAY and TRUTH.

I give thanks for that old path, thanks the Way has been shown, the Truth of the love that is ours when accepted and given in return, and the Life that awaits those who have chosen it.

I give thanks for those wrinkled hands and what they worked so hard to assure as an inheritance whose value far exceeded any labor they themselves were able to give.

I give thanks for the grace given us by God through Christ Jesus, and thanks that I was shown the rewards of the old paths, as well as the warning that precludes taking any other path as the river is crossed and the woods traversed to a place where thanks may be given in perpetuity as are the blessing that prompt those thanks.

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen 

the Wayfarer