Journey of the SoulSample

Friends on the Journey

“Bill, it’s pouring rain and the weather report shows no signs of the storm letting up,” my friend Dallas Willard said to me on the phone one January day.

“I’ll be careful,” I replied. After two hours of dog-paddling on congested freeways, I was running and splashing through puddles on the university’s campus where Dallas taught. 

On this stormy evening he was waiting for me, relaxing in his side chair. As I sat down, Dallas noticed my prayer book I carried and asked to look at it. It was worn out from use, marked up on every page. He held it gently and slowly thumbed through it. “I see you’ve been nourishing yourself. The Psalms are the Bible’s soul book.”

Dallas’ spirit seemed to soar with the first verse of Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, I have life without lack.” Life without lack? You might question that. My life is full of lack—lack of resources, lack of health, lack of justice, lack of opportunity, lack of harmony in my relationships, lack of peace. Is the psalmist living in the real world? 

Dallas wrote, “[The Psalmist] is living in the most real world, a world where Yahweh is present and available and actively involved in the lives of those who know and trust him.” We talked about how the Twenty-third Psalm is a model for our journey of growing in God’s grace. He encouraged me, “Psalm 23 covers the whole of the spiritual life in God’s kingdom.” Best of all, he smiled and said, “When you pray Psalm 23 you find that Someone is there waiting for you, to greet you and guide you.”

I felt the warmth of our Shepherd’s glowing face of love.

In those moments all the blessings God had brought me from praying the Shepherd Psalm over my lifetime seemed to come flooding back: calming my anxiety, discerning God’s will, comforting others, teaching this Scripture to our children, and sharing its phases of growth with therapy clients and students.

In the journey ahead we’ll draw on Psalm 23’s progression of renewing metaphors and insights to highlight the CHRIST stages of emotional and spiritual growth. We’ll enjoy growing intimacy with Jesus, and through him, the Trinity. Our soul comes fully alive as we love God, one another, and all people within our reach. 

Prayer: Dear Jesus, our Good Shepherd, as we read, we pray that you personalize Your path of life for each of us. Guide us in the stages of faith so we learn to grow in God’s love, joy, peace, and power. Amen