TO THE RIVER

“There is a mystery about rivers that draws us to them, for they rise from hidden places and travel by routes that are not always tomorrow where they might be today. Unlike a lake or sea, a river has a destination and there is something about the certainty with which it travels that makes it very soothing, particularly for those who’ve lost faith with where they’re headed.”
(Olivia Laing, poet and writer, from ‘To the River’ a Journey beneath the Surface.)  

As I thought about her thoughts on the river, my mind went to the same logic for messages… both those we give and receive. A message is like a sea or lake, unmoving, obvious, and often beautiful, but not necessarily moving and heading somewhere taking us with it. I think sermons are often this way, either a lake or a river. Either something nice to sit beside and admire or taking us somewhere in it’s flow…to a destination. Roll on big river, roll on.

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. If anyone believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from that person’s heart, as the Scripture says.” Jesus