The Pilgrim Pathway

I’m gazing down the Ocean Pathway from my little kitchen table this morning, at the ocean which is shining like a crystal sea. My mind goes immediately to the song, ‘Victory in Jesus’ and the words “I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory, and I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea; about the angels singing, and the old redemption story, and some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.” We have a song of victory even now, because the old redemption story is ours to sing when we are in Christ Jesus. Oh, my heart is pierced, but I have this hope, a hope which keeps me walking forward despite the circumstances of life right now in this present moment. I quiet my soul before Him in the quietness of this morning. I’m looking down at the tent community where many of the tents have been taken down and some still remain. Fall is upon us now, the change of a season. The 143^rd Camp Meeting summer season has now ended. The leaves on the trees which surround me are displaying a hint of changing color, as the messages heard in Bible Hour and at The Great Auditorium linger in my mind. He grants me renewed vision and hope for those things ahead not yet realized. I’m tempted to slump in defeat, but faith wells up within me, as well as the urge to continue walking by faith and not by sight. I encourage you to do likewise and to sing that song of victory.

All is quiet in the tent community now. They have packed their things away and gone home. The joyful sounds of laughter and singing have been replaced by the sounds of acorns falling and the squirrels scurrying about gathering them. The magnificent Auditorium organ is silent once again. I hear the sound of the ocean waves lapping upon the shore, as I remember this past summer and all of the lessons learned here. I began this summer contemplating the purpose of life and this pilgrim pathway we walk. I was thinking about the fact that much of our lives are spent waiting, waiting for that next thing to happen, whatever it may be. We set goals and strive for them and once they are achieved, we strive for the next thing and it begins all over again. Some people spend a whole lifetime waiting for a goal to be achieved, a vision to come to pass. I’ve even seen people pass away, never seeing that goal or vision come to fruition. On this earthly path we travel, our finite minds can’t grasp the full scope of those things which the Lord has planned for us. We only see a small part of the whole and this is only a small part my friends. Eternity is our goal.

I had the privilege this past spring to spend a good deal of time visiting with my aunt who passed away mid June. She never had married, nor had children. Her nieces and nephews were her children. She introduced us all to music and many a family gathering was spent gathered around a piano, singing hymns of the faith. We spent her final days in rehab reminiscing, talking about music and faith. One day we sat together with other residents in a hymn sing. I glanced around at these elderly folks, some with dementia and others whose bodies were just worn out. I thought of how quickly time passes and how all these folks were once young and from many walks of life. All had traveled different paths, but all now stood on common ground at the edge of eternity. I listened to them sing with quivering voices and such gusto. Their faces were aglow with faith and hope. They all had a common goal. My mind turned to a scripture from 2 Corinthians….

“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” 5:1

This life, these bodies are temporal. As I watch the tents coming down around me in the community here, my mind once again turns to this portion of scripture.

4. “For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

5. Now He who prepared us for this purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.

6. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord-

7. For we walk by faith and not by sight-

8. We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

9. Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”

I have gained a whole new perspective this past summer. Our Lord has shown me the richness of life in the here and now, as we live it in the light of eternity as our goal. Life takes on meaning and purpose, when we have as our ambition to please Him day by day. Maybe we can’t make sense of the things in our lives right now, but we can know that in Christ, there is a purpose and a plan in the eternal perspective. We know that when we are born anew in Him, we are given His Spirit as a pledge, a promise of eternity with Him.

Many great hymns of the faith have been penned right here in Ocean Grove. The summer began with the passing of my Aunt Margie into the eternal promise. The summer season ended on Labor Day with the passing of our beloved Director of Music Emeritus and Song Leader, Lew Daniels. He shared with us the stories behind these hymns. One of his favorite ones being, “When We All Get to Heaven”…the 2^nd verse reads…

“While we walk the pilgrim pathway, clouds will over spread the sky; but when traveling days are over, not a shadow, not a sigh.

When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory.”

We are walking the pilgrim pathway my brothers and sisters in Christ. We are on our way home.

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:57-58

Blessings be yours in abundance!