Songs of Ascents
My heart is not proud, Lord,
my eyes are not haughty.
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 131 (NIV): A song of ascents. Of David.
The Songs of Ascent are a collection of 15 Psalms (120-134) that were traditionally sung by Hebrew pilgrims, who ascended the uphill road to Jerusalem to attend annual festivals in the Temple.
Christianity.com
I have been following Fr Mike Schmidt’s podcast Bible in a Year. This week the Psalms of Ascents are being read.
As I ran hill repeats at one of my favourite loops at the Gallop extension of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, I thought it rather appropriate to contemplate ascent.
Touring My Backyard 
“I have calmed and quieted myself.” Such a beautiful line from the Psalms and so well illustrated by your photographs. Your feature photo with the blue and salmon sky is exquisite, as is the smaller one of the white railing through the salmon wall.
Thank you also for mentioning the podcast. I had never heard of the Psalms of Ascent. I just subscribed and am eager to experience the Bible in new ways.
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This is my second attempt to follow this podcast. Everyday is quite a discipline for me, and I find myself having to play catchup a lot. Not a very zen practice, but we do what we can, right?
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Beautiful photographs, words and thoughts.
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Looks very peaceful 🙂
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That looks like a beautiful place to contemplate ascent, Ju-Lyn.
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