Tag: Alexander MacLaren

In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
2 Corinthians 11:26-27

Oh, when we are journeying through the murky night and the dark woods of affliction and sorrow, it is something to find here and there a spray broken, or a leafy stem bent down with the tread of His foot and the brush of His hand as He passed; and to remember that the path He trod He has hallowed, and thus to find lingering fragrance and hidden strength in the remembrance of Him as “in all points tempted like as we are,” bearing grief for us, bearing grief with us, bearing grief like us.
Alexander MacLaren

We are called to journey in our lives; some no further than the backyard, some to the ends of the earth, some to the moon and back. The journey is not about the miles covered but it is about the internal trek we all must make on the crooked road of our hearts, searching for that straight path back to God. Much of the journey, whether internal or external, is perilous and it is more than reassuring to find the signs that He has been down that road before us, knowing the temptations, and bearing the grief we will face.

There is but one map available and one map maker. All roads lead to home and home is where He waits for us.

To journey for the sake of saving our own lives is little by little to cease to live in any sense that really matters, even to ourselves, because it is only by journeying for the world’s sake – even when the world bores and sickens and scares you half to death – that little by little we start to come alive.
Frederick Buechner