The River - A Year Later
I arise before dawn and begin my morning meditation in the dark. Shortly afterwards, I am at the river...
I come here, a year to the day after I came and went home and began this blog - without any planning or knowledge that I would do so, following a Divine imperative...
Today it is cold, and there is frost on the ground. It feels crunchy underneath my feet and for some reason, I think of C.S. Lewis' book - Voyage of the Dawn Treader...
There are squirrels scurrying all about - perhaps looking for the elusive acorns that are nowhere to be found this year. I wonder how they will fare, and if many will starve...
The river is as still as I have seen it - there is not one discernible ripple or current, and I imagine what it would be like to come inside and feel its embrace...
I reflect on this Advent reading as I sit on my favorite rock, about a footprint from the water:
"The stones I pick up at the shore of the sea never cease to amaze me. How were their shapes before the waves molded them and the erosion made them smooth and shaped their contour? It makes me think of humans, how rough and insignificant we are..."
The reading goes on to note how the Word of God sculpts us and shapes us...
I am amazed at the intense noise coming from the banks of the river on the other side. It seems like birds are partying, rejoicing, celebrating. The chorus does not let up for the entire time I am there. I want to go over there and join them!
This river has witnessed so much in my life - and has played such a central role - and taught me a wealth of untold lessons...
I recall a message I read yesterday from the Follow the Star site and think of this river:
"Places like this are often critical to an individual's faith journey. There is something about being engulfed in endless beauty that connects us to God. Many have suggested that it is hard not to believe in God once you have seen such places.
These are the easy places. The more challenging places to see God in are in the faces of those who differ from us, and in the tragedies of life..."
So true...I leave this river grateful for the role it has played and will continue to play in my life - for all it has shown me - and will continue to show as well...
I come here, a year to the day after I came and went home and began this blog - without any planning or knowledge that I would do so, following a Divine imperative...
Today it is cold, and there is frost on the ground. It feels crunchy underneath my feet and for some reason, I think of C.S. Lewis' book - Voyage of the Dawn Treader...
There are squirrels scurrying all about - perhaps looking for the elusive acorns that are nowhere to be found this year. I wonder how they will fare, and if many will starve...
The river is as still as I have seen it - there is not one discernible ripple or current, and I imagine what it would be like to come inside and feel its embrace...
I reflect on this Advent reading as I sit on my favorite rock, about a footprint from the water:
"The stones I pick up at the shore of the sea never cease to amaze me. How were their shapes before the waves molded them and the erosion made them smooth and shaped their contour? It makes me think of humans, how rough and insignificant we are..."
The reading goes on to note how the Word of God sculpts us and shapes us...
I am amazed at the intense noise coming from the banks of the river on the other side. It seems like birds are partying, rejoicing, celebrating. The chorus does not let up for the entire time I am there. I want to go over there and join them!
This river has witnessed so much in my life - and has played such a central role - and taught me a wealth of untold lessons...
I recall a message I read yesterday from the Follow the Star site and think of this river:
"Places like this are often critical to an individual's faith journey. There is something about being engulfed in endless beauty that connects us to God. Many have suggested that it is hard not to believe in God once you have seen such places.
These are the easy places. The more challenging places to see God in are in the faces of those who differ from us, and in the tragedies of life..."
So true...I leave this river grateful for the role it has played and will continue to play in my life - for all it has shown me - and will continue to show as well...
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