Psalm 63 - Step by Step

Immediately as I read this Psalm, a song played many times in my life came to remembrance. It is a simple chorus song by Rich Mullins called Step by Step. The chorus of the song starts with the same words from this Psalm.

O God, you are my God

From there, it diverges a bit...the Psalm says:

I seek you
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water

The song, however, moves to this...

And I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to
Walk in Your ways
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

The song basically repeats over and over from there - it is very much a slow, quiet, meditative song - gives a spirit of a Taize type song to where one eventually loses themself in the song. This was a song that was sung so many times at retreats and gatherings in my early years of trying to follow Jesus. I have returned to it so many times since and it is on my “My Journey” playlist of songs that have deep meaning to me in my life (92 songs and counting). The Psalm has both gratitude for God’s presence and help and a statement of trusting how God would protect from enemies.

As I read the Psalm before bed Monday night and then again Tuesday morning, I thought about the number of steps I take in a day and all the purposes behind them. As of when I’m writing this, I ended up with just over 16,000 steps (8+ miles) on Tuesday. Those steps and miles ranged from a run on a Planet Fitness treadmill, a walk with Scout, walking between different events, carrying out boxes and bags to meet tangible needs for people from the church to my car to deliver for shipping and donation, walking from my car into several different visits with folks from the church, a final walk for the day with Scout, sitting at my kitchen counter for several church zoom meetings, and then everything else in between.

The reason that I share all this is simply because it gets to something that is central to how I try to follow the way of Jesus in my life. (Emphasis upon try). It is to try to have an ongoing awareness and intentionality about practicing my faith and trying to integrate it into every area of life. I would love to say that I do this perfectly (I don’t) but it is my intention. So with each of these photos, there was intentionality (praying for the weary looking person walking by as i ran on the treadmill, giving thanks for the beauty of Spring while out with Scout, celebrating the generosity of two congregations as i filled the back of my car) and there was also me pondering an upcoming Star Wars show or thinking about a new PS5 game coming out soon. Its all in there. But the intention...

And a video moment while walking Scout where my steps took me to stop and listen to the creek and the birds and the life all around.

I would love to hear about your intentionality toward however you go step-by-step through your day - Towards what is your intentionality directed? What has been helpful for you? How do you practice it in different areas? One area of practice that helped me a great deal was that I would set an alarm every two hours on my phone during the day that simply was entitled “Gratitude?” to help me keep gratitude at the forefront.

Again, what are ways that help you with living step-by-step with intention?

Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Ed

PS - Here is Scout as I was loading up the boxes and bags to donate…