Old Man River

On Monday I took my monthly day apart for prayer and time away with God, at an area retreat center. At noontime on those days I treat myself to lunch at a favorite restaurant of mine that has a second story overlooking the Mississippi River. I spend a good bit of the noon hour watching the river, then usually go stroll along the levee before I return to the retreat center. As I did so, I was reminded powerfully again how much a river evokes truth about God.

Standing alongside this great North American flow I realize how powerful it really is. From a distance it might seem slow, but up close you realize how much resolute force is in Old Man River. I have no clue how this massive movement originates, and I cannot wrap my mind around the vastness of how it ends. Its level might rise or it might fall, but it never stops. It might be blocked or re-routed, but it will not be denied in reaching its destination. You can see the river in front of you, and you can see as far upstream or downstream as you're able, but your eyes can't take in all of it. Sometimes it may seem raging and dangerous; other times it might seem calm, cooling, and inviting. All of it is the same river, with the same determination and focus. If you fight its flow, you're in for a battle. If you get in the mainstream of its flow, it will carry you all the way.

A lot of those characteristics describe God as I have experienced God and as God reveals God's own self to me. I wish you good travels on the river which is your life. I'll see you around the next bend.