Water is Life

 

Running through the heart of our neighborhood park is a beautiful creek. After a big rain, it is a raging river. Then, with a little time, it slowly returns to the peaceful stream that winds it way through our city. There are various spots in the park where there is access to the water, trails worn into the earth as countless visitors have made their way to its banks.

As the leaves have turned and the winds have shaken them loose from the trees, they are beginning to form their yearly blanket of color for the banks of the creek. Gently transported by the slow current, they float until they find a place of rest. There they pause until the rains come once again, the waters rise and they make their way to the next stop on their journey.

If you are in a profession such as mine, you know a bit of that feeling. From time to time across the years you get the call to a new assignment. You literally “go with the flow” to a new place and begin again. Some people really hate it, some enjoy the change of scenery. I suppose I always tried to look at such a life as an adventure. And, I am fortunate to say, the stream has always carried me to places I ended up loving and to people who blessed my life.

We read these words in the Book of Ezekiel, “And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.” The scriptures are full of references to water because water, then and now, is life. Waters can flow in a seemingly endless supply. Waters can survive as a mere trickle in a creek bed. Waters can be calm or raging. But in these and all it’s forms, water is life.

I find this image of the neighborhood creek to be calm and peaceful. For the moment, the leaves rest and the water leisurely rolls onward. Life continues.

Peace.