Ascension

Last night I was reading through old poetry, and I decided that maybe it was time again to review the Songs of Ascents, that ancient treasure-trove from the Hebrew psalms. The Songs, which we know as Psalms 120 to 134, are about pilgrimage and life's endeavours; they are the perfect accompaniment of eternal sanity to the daily insanity. There's a catch though; as with much of the Bible, the lens used is human, and therefore skewed towards trying to understand the Almighty with imperfect voice and vision.

That said, it is a good thing for us to read the Psalms for a lyrical counterpoint to the messy and jagged edges of life. And I will now continue the practice that I had in the past, of reading one of the Songs of Ascents each day in a 15-day cycle. This exercise sustained me through 30 months of army life right at the beginning of my national service; that was 20 years ago now.