I am  reading this book, it's great, speaks to my
situation, you know the trust issue, and bing afraid!
Have any of you read this one Hinds feet In High
Places  here is a sample from the first chapter:
PART ONE
"WEEPING MAY ENDURE FOR A NIGHT"
(psalm 30:5)
"O them afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not
comforted, Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair
colours,
And lay thy foundations with sapphires, And I will
make thy windows of agates,
And thy gates of carbuncles. And all thy
borders of pleasant stones."
(isa. 54: ii, 12)
CHAPTER I
 THE INVITATION TO THE HIGH PLACES
this is the story of how Much-Afraid escaped from her
Fearing relatives and went with the Shepherd to the
High
Places where "perfect love casteth out fear".
For several years Much-Afraid had been in the
service of the Chief Shepherd, whose great flocks were
pastured down in the Valley of Humiliation. She
lived with her friends and fellow-workers Mercy and
Peace
in a tranquil little white cottage in the village
of Much-Trembling. She loved her work and desired
intensely to please the Chief Shepherd, but happy
as she was in most ways, she was conscious of several
things which hindered her in her work and caused her
much
secret distress and shame.
In the first place she was a cripple, with feet so
crooked that they often caused her to limp and stumble
as
she went about her work. She had also the very
unsightly
blemish of a crooked mouth which greatly disfigured
both
expression and speech and was sadly conscious that
these
ugly blemishes must be a cause of astonishment and
offence to many who knew that she was in the service
of the
great Shepherd. Most earnestly she longed to be
completely delivered from these shortcomings and to be
made beautiful, gracious, and strong as were so
HINDS' FEET OK HIGH PLACES
many of the Shepherd's other workers, and above
all to be
made like the Chief Shepherd Himself. But she feared
that
stthere could be no deliverance from these two
crippling
disfigurements
and that they must continue to mar her service
always.
There was, however, another and even greater trouble
in
her life. She was a member of the Family of
Fearings, and her relatives were scattered all over
the valley, so that she could never really escape from
them. An orphan, she had been brought up in the
home of her aunt, poor Mrs. Dismal
Forebodings, with her two cousins Gloomy and
Spiteful and their brother Craven Fear, a great
bully who habitually tormented and persecuted her in
a really dreadful way.
Like most of the other families who lived in the
Valley of Humiliation, all the Fearings hated the
Chief Shepherd and tried to boycott His
servants, and naturally it was a great offence to them
that
one of their own family should have entered His
service.
Consequently they did all they could both by threats
and
persuasions to get her out of His employment, and one
 dreadful day they laid before her the family
dictum that she must immediately marry her cousin
Craven
Fear and settle down respectably amongst her
own people. If she refused to do this of her own free
will,
they threatened to use force and compel her. Poor
Much-Afraid was, of course, overwhelmed with
horror at the mere idea, but her relatives always
terrified her, and she had never learnt to resist or
ignore their threats, so she simply sat cowering
before
them, repeating again and again that nothing would
induce her
to marry Craven Fear, but quite unable to escape from
their
presence.
The unhappy interview therefore lasted a long time,
and
when finally they did leave her for a little, it was
already
early evening. With a surge of relief,
Much-Afraid remembered that the Chief Shepherd
would then be leading His flocks to their accustomed
watering-place beside a lovely cascade and pool
on the outskirts of the village. To this place she was
in the habit of going very early every morning to meet
Him
and learn His wishes and commands for the day, and
again in the
evenings to give her report on the day's work. It was
now
THE INVITATION TO THE HIGH PLACES

time to meet Him there beside the pool, and she
felt sure He would help her and not permit her
relatives to kidnap her and force her to leave His
service for the dreadful slavery of marriage with
Craven Fear.
Still shaking with fear and without pausing to wash
the tears from
her face, Much-Afraid shut the door of the
cottage and started off for the cascade and the pool.
The quiet evening light was filling the Valley of
Humiliation with a golden glow as she left the
village and started to cross the fields. Beyond the
river, the mountains which bounded the eastern side of
the
Valley like towering ramparts were already tinged with
pink, and
their deep gorges were filled with lovely and
mysterious shadows. Through the quiet and peace of
this
tranquil evening, poor, terrified Much-Afraid
came to the pool where the Shepherd was waiting for
her,
and told Him of her dreadful plight.
"What shall I do?"' she cried as she ended the
recital. "How can I escape? They can't really
force me to marry my cousin Craven, can they? Oh!
" cried she, overwhelmed again at the very thought of
such
a prospect, "it is dreadful enough to be
Much-Afraid, but to think of having to be Mrs.
Craven Fear for the rest of my life and never able
 to escape from the torment of it is more than I
can bear."
"Don't be afraid," said the Shepherd gently.
"You are in My service, and if you will trust Me
they will not be able to force you against your will
into any family
alliance. But you ought never to have let your Fearing
relatives into your cottage, because they are enemies
of the King who has taken you into His employment."
"I know, oh, I know," cried Much-Afraid,
"but whenever I meet any of my relatives I
seem to lose all my strength and simply cannot
resist them, no matter how I strive. As long as
I live in the Valley I cannot escape meeting
them. They are everywhere and now that they are
determined
to get me into their power again I shall never dare
venture
outside my cottage alone for fear of being
kidnapped."
As she spoke she lifted her eyes and looked across
the Valley and the river to the lovely sunset-lighted
peaks of the moun-
HINDS' FEET ON HIGH PLACES
tains, then cried out in desperate longing, "Oh,
if only I could escape from this Valley of
Humiliation altogether and go to the High Places,
completely out of reach of all the Fearings and my
other
relatives! His
No sooner were these words uttered when to her
complete
astonishment the Shepherd answered, "I have waited
a long time to hear you make that suggestion,
Much-Afraid. It would indeed be best for you to leave
the Valley for the High Places, and I will very
willingly take you there Myself. The lower slopes of
those mountains on the other side of the river are the
border-land of My Father's Kingdom, the Realm of
Love. No Fears of any kind are able to live
there because 'perfect love casteth out fear and
everything that
torments".
Much-Afraid stared at Him in amazement. "Go
to the High Places," she exclaimed, "and live
there? Oh, if only I could! For months past the
longing has never left me. I think of it day and
night, but it is not possible. I could never get
there.
I am too lame." She looked down at her
malformed feet as she spoke, and her eyes again
filled with tears of despair and self-pity. "The
mountains are so steep and dangerous. I have been
told that only the hinds and the deer can move on them
safely."
"It is quite true that the way up to the High
Places is both difficult and dangerous," said
 the Shepherd. "It has to be, so that nothing
which is an enemy of Love can make the ascent and
invade the Kingdom. Nothing blemished or in any
way imperfect is allowed there, and the inhabitants
of the High Places do need "hinds" feet". I
have them Myself," He added with a smile, 'and like a
young
hart or a roebuck I can go leaping on the mountains
and skipping on the hills with the greatest ease and
pleasure. But, Much-Afraid, I could make yours
like hinds" feet also, and set you upon the High
Places. You could serve Me then much more fully and
be out of reach of all your enemies. I am delighted
to hear that you have been longing to go there, for,
as I said
before, I have been waiting for you to make that
suggestion.
Then," he added, with another smile, 'y would never
have to meet Craven Fear again."
Much-Afraid stared at Him in bewilderment.
"Make my feet
THE INVITATION TO THE HIGH PLACES

like hinds" feetst she repeated. "How is that
possible? And what would the inhabitants of the
Kingdom
of Love say to the presence of a wretched little
cripple with an ugly face and a twisted mouth, if
nothing blemished and imperfect may dwell there?"'
"It is truest said the Shepherd, 't you
would have to be changed before you could live on the
High
Places, but if you are willing to go with Me, I
promise to help you develop hinds" feet. Up
there on the mountains, as you get near the real High
Places, the air is fresh and invigorating. It
strengthens the whole body and there are streams with
wonderful healing properties, so that those who bathe
in
them find all their blemishes and disfigurements
washed
away. But there is another thing I must tell you. Not
only would I have to make your feet like hinds' feet,
but you would have to receive another name, for it
would be as
impossible for a Much-Afraid to enter the Kingdom of
Love as for any other member of the Fearing family.
Are you willing to be changed completely,
Much-Afraid, and to be made like the new name which
you will
receive if you become a citizen in the Kingdom of
Love?"'
She nodded her head and then said very earnestly,
'allyes, I am."
Again He smiled, but added gravely, "There is still
one thing more, the most important of all. No one
is allowed to dwell in the Kingdom of Love unless
they have the flower of Love already blooming in their
hearts. Has Love been planted in your heart,
 Much-Afraid?"'
As the Shepherd said this He looked at her very
steadily and she realised that His eyes were searching
into the
very depths of her heart and knew all that was there
far
better than she did herself. She did not answer for a
long time, because she was not sure what to say, but
she
looked rather flinchingly into the eyes which were
gazing at her
so penetratingly and became aware that they had the
power
of reflecting what they looked upon.
She could thus really see her own heart as He saw
it, so after a long pause she answered, "I think
that what is growing there
HINDS" FEET ON HIGH PLACES
is a great longing to experience the joy of natural,
human love and to learn to love supremely one
person who will love me in return. But perhaps that
desire, natural and right as it seems, is not the
Love of which You are speaking? " She paused and then
added honestly and almost tremblingly, 'I see the
longing to be loved and admired growing in my heart,
Shepherd, but I don't think I see the kind of
Love that You are talking about, at least, nothing
like the
love which I see in Y."
"Then will you let Me plant the seed of true
Love there now? " asked the Shepherd. "It will
take you some time to develop hinds" feet
and to climb to the High Places, and if I put the
seed in your heart now it will be ready to bloom by
the time
you get there."
Much-Afraid shrank back. 'I am afraid,"
she said. "I have been told that if you really love
someone you give that loved one the power to hurt and
pain
you in a way nothing else can."
"That is true," agreed the Shepherd. To love
does mean to put your self into the power of the loved
one
and to become very vulnerable to pain, and you are
very
much-afraid of pain, are you not? His
She nodded miserably and then said shamefacedly,
'allyes, very much afraid of it."
"But it is so happy to love," said the Shepherd
quietly. "It is happy to love even if you are
not loved in return. There is pain too,
certainly, but Love does not think that very
significant."
Much-Afraid thought suddenly that He had the most
patient eyes she had ever seen. At the same time
there was something in them that hurt her to the
heart, though she
could not have said why, but she still shrank back in
fear and
said (bringing the words out very quickly because
somehow she was
ashamed to say them), "I would never dare to love
 unless I were sure of being loved in return.
If I let You plant the seed of Love in my
heart will You give me the promise that I shall be
loved in return? I couldn't bear it otherwise."
The smile He turned on her then was the gentlest and
kindest she had ever seen, yet once again, and for the
same indefinable
THE INVITATION TO THE HIGH PLACES

reason as before, it cut her to the quick. "Yes,

He said, without hesitation. 'I promise you,
Much-Afraid, that when the plant of Love is
ready to bloom in your heart and when you are ready
to change your name, then you will be loved in
return."
A thrill of joy went through her from head to foot. It
seemed too wonderful to be believed, but the
Shepherd Himself was making the promise, and of one
thing
she was quite sure, He could not lie. "Please
plant Love in my heart now," she said
faintly. Poor little soul, she was still Much-Afraid
even when promised the greatest thing in the world.
The Shepherd put His hand in His bosom, drew
something forth, and laid it in the palm of His hand.
Then
He held His hand out towards Much-Afraid.
"Here is the seed of Love," He said.
She bent forward to look, then gave a startled little
cry and drew back. There was indeed a seed lying in
the palm of His hand, but it was shaped exactly like a
long, sharply-pointed thorn. Much-Afraid had
often noticed that the Shepherd's hands were scarred
and
wounded, but now she saw that the scar in the palm of
the hand
held out to her was the exact shape and size of the
seed
of Love lying beside it.
"The seed looks very sharp," she said shrinkingly.
"Won't it hurt if You put it into my heart?"'
He answered gently, "It is so sharp that it
slips in very quickly. But, Much-Afraid, I have
already warned you that Love and Pain go together, for
a time
at least. If you would know Love, you must know pain
too."
Much-Afraid looked at the thorn and shrank from it.
Then she looked at the Shepherd's face and
repeated His words to herself. "When the seed of Love
in your heart is ready to bloom, you will be loved in
return," and a strange new courage entered
into her. She suddenly stepped forward, bared her
heart, and said, "Please plant the seed here in my
heart."
His face lit up with a glad smile and He said with a
 note of joy in His voice, "Now you will be
able to go with Me to the High Places and be a citizen
in the Kingdom of My Father."
Then He pressed the thorn into her heart. It was
true, just as
HINDS' FEET ON HIGH PLACES
He had said, it did cause a piercing pain, but it
slipped in quickly and then, suddenly, a sweetness she
had never felt or imagined before tingled through her.
It
was bitter-sweet, but the sweetness was the stronger.





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