The Old Ways

Are the new ways better?

     “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
     Where the good way is, and walk in it;
     And you will find rest for your souls."  NASV

Lately, I have had the opportunity to slow down and evaluate the paths I take and how I got where I am. What are my values and the “hills I am willing to die on” and they are getting fewer. I have discovered that many of my personal pursuits, too many of my decisions, have not been founded on solid bedrock. I believed the new way was better than the ancient paths. I have scrutinized the new ways, are they really better? I have determined many are not worth the energy to build on. Traditions have replaced solid truth and led many away from the sold ground.

Why do we look for the new ways, current technology and newest studies? Sometimes new is better and new information updates old thoughts or ideas. In our pursuits to prove our own biases we create a world of relativism, each does what is right in their own eyes. We seek answers, but are they based on truth? What is truth? Where is knowledge found? How can I acquire wisdom?

Look to the ancient ways, walk the “good path.” Not all the old and ancient ways are obsolete. our ancestors knew what was best. They had wisdom we do not. Look to the ancient wisdom, the paths of our fathers and examine the way if it is not filled with knowledge and wisdom we have forsaken for “new and better ways.”

In this age of technology we are harried to keep up with the pace. information acquisition is coming at an exponential rate. We become “experts” in fields of study and disciplines because of the vast banks of knowledge. Knowledge does not equal wisdom, though. In our anxious rush to gain more knowledge, we have sacrificed our mental, physical, and spiritual health on the alter of personal pursuits and happiness.

STOP

Take time to remember the elderly, forgotten and abandoned. There was a time we honored our elders and cherished time with them, learning the wisdom they offer. Age meant something. But, we have tossed them aside for our personal passion and dreams.

“Ask for the ancient paths… ask for the good way” there is much to gain when we slow down to ask for the good way. Every day we stand at the precipice of the future. Each decision demands we choose between the good way and “other ways”. The more we choose the other way, the old path, the good path, becomes harder to find.