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R. Somerset Ward has long been identified as the author of The Way which was first published in 1922. If one were to open one of the original editions of this work, one would find that the author is simply listed as A Priest. The priest in question was one ordained in the Church of England and was indeed The Revd Reginald Somerset Ward.
The following is a brief illustration from a section in The Way sub-titled (ii) SELF-COMPARISON:
From the ancient city of Jerusalem there rose a multitude of towers and turrets and spires and pinnacles, so that the beauty of that city seen from afar off was beyond mortal tongue to tell.
Now it came to pass on a day that two pilgrims were approaching the Holy City When he saw it from afar off, one of them burst forth into many exclamations, and presently he set himself to mark which was the highest pinnacle. "For surely," said he, that is the one which will rise from the summit of the Temple of the most High God."
And first he was assured that a certain pinnacle was the highest, but anon, when the road turned and he beheld the city from a new side, he would have it that another was the highest, and then again, when the road descended into the valley, yet a third had the pre-eminence. At each new view he must needs expound the matter to his companion, who said never a word.
And at last, being wroth with this friend's silence, he said to him, “Have you not yet noticed how such an one is higher, or whether such an one is the highest of all?"
"Nay," said his companion, "I have but noticed that all alike point upwards."
The Way
R. Somerset Ward
The S. Christopher Press
13 Serjeants' Inn, Fleet Street
London, 1934
pp. 47-48
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Luke 21:28 (KJV)
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