Daily Office Reflections
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Readings: Psalms 120–127; Judges 18:1–15; Acts 8:1–13; John 5:30–47
There is something about climbing a hill.
You don’t arrive at the top in one step.
You climb.
One step at a time.
Sometimes the path is easy. Sometimes it is steep. Sometimes you stop to catch your breath. Sometimes you look back and realize how far you have already traveled.
Perhaps that is why today’s Psalms speak to me so strongly.
Psalms 120 through 127 are part of the Songs of Ascents, associated with pilgrims making their way toward Jerusalem.
They were going somewhere.
They were climbing.
And as they climbed, they sang.
I think there is a powerful metaphor here for the journey of faith.
The ascent up the hill represents our continuing journey toward understanding, grasping, and choosing the love of God—learning to do what is right instead of simply doing what we think is right.
Searching for a Home
The tribe of Dan was searching.
Judges tells us that they were looking for a place to settle, a place they could call home.
Five men were sent to explore the land.
During their journey, they came to the house of Micah and met the Levite serving there as a priest. They asked him whether their journey would be successful.
He gave them the answer they wanted.
They went on their way believing that God approved.
But there was already something wrong with the foundation.
Micah’s household contained a carved image, an ephod, and household gods. This was a religion constructed around what seemed right to Micah.
The Danites eventually returned with 600 armed men and took Micah’s religious objects.
They were searching for a home.
They were making choices.
And they were convinced they were doing what was right.
But were they?
That question follows me up the hill.
What Seems Right and What Is Right
Yesterday’s reading from Judges gave us the haunting description of the time:
People were doing what was right in their own eyes.
That is different from seeking what is right.
I can convince myself that something is right because I want it.
I can find someone who agrees with me.
I can even find religious language to justify it.
But none of those things necessarily makes my choice right.
The pilgrim has to keep climbing.
The pilgrim has to keep learning.
The pilgrim has to keep asking questions.
And perhaps most importantly, the pilgrim has to remain willing to change.
Who Do You Believe?
The religious leaders confronting Jesus are also faced with a choice.
Jesus tells them there are witnesses to who he is.
John the Baptist testified about him.
The works Jesus performs testify about him.
The Father testifies about him.
And the Scriptures testify about him.
Yet they struggle to believe.
Then Jesus makes a powerful observation.
They search the Scriptures because they believe that in them they have eternal life, yet they refuse to come to the One to whom those Scriptures point.
They know the words.
They know the traditions.
They know the arguments.
But Jesus challenges what is happening inside them.
Do they have the love of God in their hearts?
That may be one of the most important questions on the ascent.
It isn’t simply:
What do I know?
It is:
Is what I know leading me toward the love of God?
Philip Goes to Samaria
Acts gives us another group of people making choices.
Following the persecution of the Church, Philip goes to Samaria and proclaims Christ.
The people listen.
They see what is happening.
They hear the good news.
And many believe and are baptized.
Even Simon, who had amazed the people with his magic and had been called “the Great One,” believes and is baptized.
In today’s reading, we see people presented with the Gospel and choosing to respond.
Again, the question becomes:
Who do you believe?
In whom do you trust?
Climbing Toward Jerusalem
And now I hear the pilgrims singing.
They are climbing toward Jerusalem.
One step after another.
One song after another.
One choice after another.
And they sing:
“My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”
There it is.
That is what the pilgrim has to remember.
My help does not come from simply doing what seems right to me.
My help does not come from finding someone who will tell me what I want to hear.
My help does not come from winning an argument.
My help comes from the Lord.
God is our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.
And God gives us the freedom to choose.
The tribe of Dan chose.
The religious leaders chose.
The people of Samaria chose.
And every day, I choose.
The Ascent Continues
I have come to understand faith more and more as a pilgrimage.
I haven’t arrived.
I am still learning.
I am still traveling.
I am still climbing.
Sometimes the climb means questioning something I once believed.
Sometimes it means discovering that what seemed right in my own eyes was not necessarily right.
Sometimes it means listening to another person.
Sometimes it means admitting that I was wrong.
And sometimes it means simply taking another step toward understanding the love of God.
Perhaps that is what spiritual growth looks like.
Not standing at the bottom of the hill claiming that we already know everything.
But climbing.
Learning.
Listening.
Choosing.
Growing.
And trusting that God is with us on the journey.
A Question for the Journey
So today’s question is not simply:
What do I believe?
It is deeper than that:
Are my choices leading me farther up the hill—toward the love of God and toward what is truly right—or am I simply doing what seems right in my own eyes?
The pilgrims kept climbing.
And they kept singing.
“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”
So I will keep climbing too.
One step at a time.
Learning to love.
Learning to listen.
Learning to choose.
Learning to trust.
“My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”
The ascent continues.
And so does the journey.
The Curious Pilgrim — Reflections on faith, family, and mysterious grace.
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