|
Creeks and Rivers
Every other week, I travel to see my mom, who lives two-and-a-half hours northeast of Houston. My trip involves crossing many small creeks, branches and two rivers. Although I’ve made this drive many times over the years, it was on my last trek that I spent time in the car contemplating the importance of these waterways. I even took time to walk down along the sandy banks of Caney Creek which flows through the town of Newton and empties nearby into the Sabine River.
The creeks are narrow and chaotic, flowing around fallen logs with swirling debris – leaves from water oaks or pine needles. Eventually, the water reaches the deeper river it feeds, and the scene becomes different. The disarray and disorganization of the creeks are hushed as the larger, deeper body of water moves toward an even deeper sea.
When I think about my life as an individual and our common life as a community, I see the need for both the shallow creek and deep river. There are the daily concerns of life that sometimes seem to stand in our way like debris and leaves, against which we splash and make noise. There are bills to pay, appointments to keep, traffic and errands to run. The activity is exciting, but it can be overwhelming and distracting as well. Life in the creek is essential, but it ultimately leads us beyond the narrow, chaotic place to someplace else. The many tasks and obligations allow us, if we stay the course, to reach the place where we can look on the other side of the day-to-day and swim in deeper waters. As an individual, this is where I see beyond to my life’s purpose and to the kingdom of God. In community life, it is where we move past bills, grocery lists and websites to the meaning of our being together in the first place. It is a place of personally and collectively practicing the presence of God.
I sometimes spend too much time in the creek and forget about the deeper river. I also sometimes dwell too long in the deep river and neglect the branch that feeds it. As with so many contrasts, the lesson is in appreciating both and balancing what each has to offer. It is the recognition that God is intimately present with us in both the messiness of the mundane and the mystery of the depths.
| 
