The High Way

A Reflection on the Psalm for August 11th, 2019:
​Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Psalm 33

R. Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. R.

Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
to deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine. R.

Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you. R.

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For many years, songwriters have been telling us that life is a path, a highway, a long and winding road. “Life as journey” is a good metaphor, which is probably why it’s used so often.


Life is not always an easy journey. I’m sure we’ve all had the experience of driving down a long, unfamiliar road, watching for the landmarks marked on our map and not seeing any of them. One starts to get that wait-a-minute feeling and, close on the heels of that feeling, you begin to wonder: “Could I be going the wrong way?”


When I look back on my life and imagine it as a long road, I notice times when I would get that wait-a-minute feeling but, for some reason, it never dawned on me that I could be going the wrong way. I’d just kept driving. I’d think there was a problem with the map, and try a different one; or I’d re-double my efforts to see the landmarks. Only after I’d gone a long way and had nothing but frustration to show for it would I ask myself, “Why haven’t I arrived at my destination?” And, eventually, I would realize that, no matter how much effort I put in, I was never going to arrive at my destination because I was going the wrong way.


Proverbs 3:6 says: acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and He will show you which path to take. Similarly, the psalm for this week tells us: the Lord keeps watch over those who honour Him and who trust in His steadfast love.


In big ways and small, I have learned that, if I honour the Lord through prayer and trust in His love, He will show me which path to take and He will make that path smooth.

"I have learned that, if I honour the Lord through prayer and trust in His love, He will show me which path to take and He will make that path smooth." 

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The first time I learned this lesson was after I had spent three years trying to get a permanent job in a certain company. I’d worked there on contract and on term. I was underemployed but company management assured me that, if I would bide my time, my ship would come in. It didn’t. Disillusioned and angry, I finally accepted it as a lost cause and began applying elsewhere. But the decisive step was the more difficult one—I was still trying to control the journey, and the hurt and the fear dissipated only when I truly, deliberately gave the whole thing over to God. I prayed more. I allowed the Lord to direct my path, and I tried to view the previous three years as a skills-building exercise. As it turned out, it was exactly that. What I learned while working on contract and term was exactly what my next (and best) employer was looking for. Within a month, I had given notice to my old company and was on a smoother path. All things God works for the good of those who love him (Roman 8: 28).


That was the first such lesson I learned, but there have been others—so many, in fact, that my faith has grown as I never knew it could. I know that when I give my struggle over to God, He keeps His eye on me and shepherds me along the right path, the high way and the long and winding road.


​Donna Davis

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