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Read: Psalm 13
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 13:6
Every year around Christmas my oldest friends and I are able to come together for a carefully cultivated ritual of canoeing the rivers of Western North Carolina in December. Our window is fleeting; the demands of our jobs, schools, and the gracious beneficence of our wives allow us just one weekend, with dates pre-selected months ahead of time. What this means, of course, is that regardless of Appalachia’s relentlessly tricky winter weather patterns, we “stay the course” and paddle no matter what is thrown at us.
And the whims of mother nature have not been kind to us over the years.
40 mile per hour headwinds, torrential rainstorms, capsizes, freezing temperatures, and a few of the region’s many challenging Class III rapids keep our small group (best friends since childhood) feeling anxious, nervous, miserable, scared, and indescribably jubilant. It is Psalm 13 on the waters of the Land of the Sky. Personal suffering and anxiety gives way to unshakeable trust in friends, in family, in a sacred community and a “hidden” God. And our trust in God is rewarded with underserved joy, through steadfast love “dealt bountifully” to us. (Ps 13:6 NRSV)
This long-anticipated season of Advent together, in person, as a church family is a joy only truly realized through months of separate sufferings. Just as on the river, when the sun finally comes out amidst the mountains, the eagles fly from the treetops and the river winds ever broader to a beautiful confluence, our trust through troubles gives us a joy that only the saving grace of Christ can truly deliver.
~Will Arledge
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