The Lord is My Shepherd.

Alone

Alone I wandered.

White capped sentinels high towering.

Through the valley of the shadow.

I meandered.

Mystic majesty.

Creation of wonder.

Around and near,

yet feel no fear.

Light of the sky,

                        light of life.

Light and Life for me

majestic beauty.

Behold the beholder.

Small I may be.

But here I see. 

A hand in all.

In Me;

As I am part,

          at one.

Creation and Me.

The Lord is My Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd;

I have everything I need.

He lets me rest in the fields of green grass,

and leads me beside quiet pools of fresh water.

He gives me strength.

He guides and leads me on true paths,

as he promised.

Even though I go through the deepest darkness.

I will not be afraid, Lord.

For you are with me,

where all my enemies can see me;

You welcome me as an honoured guest,

and fill my cup to the brim.

I know your goodness and love 

will be with me all my life.

And your house will be my home

as long as I shall live.

Psalm 23.

I remember walking one day in the Ochil Hills in Scotland in the middle of winter. I was meandering or as we Scottish say I was stravaiging, through a deep valley. The hills on either side were steep and capped with snow. I was following the course of a stream as it wound its way down to join, and become part of,  the River Forth. 

The depth of the valley made me very conscious of my stature. As I wandered the clouds began to darken and look threatening. For a moment I felt very alone.

How easily this place could become a frightening place to be, how easy for it to become, "the valley of the shadow of death.' yet I did not feel afraid that day. Neither did I feel alone.  The very opposite was the case, I felt very much at one with everything around me.

I realised I was very much a part of all of this, part of this wonderful creation. For that moment I felt very aware of being in this place for a reason. I felt as though I was meant to be there at that point in time at this moment. I was here to experience this frightening beauty, and to know I was not alone.

I heard in my inner being the words of Psalm twenty-three. I heard the line, "Even if I go through the valley of deepest darkness, I will not be afraid."

Those words in this setting brought a deep sense of the meaning of the words. They became more than just words on a sheet or in a book, they became living and real.  I did not feel alone, it was as if I did indeed have a guarding shepherd. 

I became aware that day, that life has indeed many frightening moments and times. But even in such moments, we need not fear. That because of this even death itself has no sting. We are in life never alone. We are ever surrounded by God or as others say, Chi. To be at one with creation removes fear.