A Simple Stream
10/5/14
Many of us love to sit beside a stream and take in
everything that the scene offers. Picnics,
reading or listening to relaxing music dominate some of these settings and what
do we think about while we are gracing the presence of such a magnificent body
of life and on a different level, do we even understand the power that this
small amount of moving water has? How
does a small stream reflect our lives in such a manner that we can contribute
to a higher cause and how can we learn about life through this setting? There are many considerations that must be
accounted for when living the small stream of life and it has been proven many
times over that unless we know our true source of life, we shall never come
into contact with the ultimate goal that we desperately strive towards.
I have included a picture of a small stream at the top of
this article and I want to ask if anyone recognizes this stream and where its
location is at? I know it does not look
like much of a force but it represents a very significant event that leads to a
great ending. The beginning of this
stream is only approximately a few feet wide and only a couple of inches deep
and runs through a dense grassy area. Small
springs run into this small stream which force it to take a windy path to seek
out more ground as its content grows.
While there may be some arguments concerning the true source of this
stream, it is not hard to agree upon that the beginnings of this stream were
small and unique which could never be re-created again.
The picture represents a part of the origin of the
Mississippi River system, which is the third largest river system in the world
and it basically drew its life from a small humbling of a setting. This small stream has its own life and feels
free to flow with all of its might in a direction that would suit its drainage
and even though this pathway at the beginning is small and if water had
knowledge, it would so proud of what it was to become. But one drop of water does not reach the
mouth of the Mississippi Delta in one twenty four hour period but it takes time
and encounters so many more “adventures” along the way.
As the water molecules continue their path along the
current they encounter many different places and things. Not every drop of water will make it to the
mouth of the Mississippi but a good portion of them will, all the while performing
a duty along the way. The stream has
become a small river because of other tributaries that have joined the system
and their contents have forced the stream to increase in its size. The strength of the river has grown and is
beginning to mold parts of the earth according to its patterns and strength.
As the pathway of the river continues to move along it
passes many sceneries and a vast number of landscapes pass by as the water runs
its course. The meadows give way to the
small towns and gigantic cities which provide a change in atmosphere as it
courses through its defined streets. The
river then leaves the city which turns into high cliffs which provide further
assistance for guidance as the river continues its course. Other rivers bodies join this main body of
water along these cliffs which persuades the surrounding land to make a larger
area for more water which she freely does, all the while this passive force
struggles to stay within its boundaries.
As the miles crept along the small stream has become one
of the most powerful rivers in the world and can even accommodate large barges
heavily filled with materials going to other cities located on the river. What a majestic scene this river holds as it
winds its way down the country cutting the entire nation into two halves. The end of the river is so vast that its
delta actually covers miles in length, which is a hard thing to comprehend
since the river’s beginnings were a small stream only about a couple of feet
wide and a few inches deep. But how this
river has grown and how great are its resources that are vital to a needy
society. Many opportunities lie within
reach of this river’s boundaries both to mankind and to nature itself. The river comes alive with each bend and turn
of its course and as long as there is a source of its feeding, it shall always
run freely and gracefully until destination of the water has been reached.
It is true that not every molecule of water that is
included along the way makes it to the mouth and the destination of the
river. It is virtually impossible for us
to track a single molecule’s progress down the river, but if one could study
this progression, it would be fascinating to watch unfold. It is possible to watch these rivers and
their contents to merge with the main river Mississippi and while I have not
been able to see this phenomenon happen too often I do understand it is a
wonder to witness. In some cases the color
of the water is different from the water into which it is merging and a line is
formed that is quite visible and in other settings there may not be much
visible change. Whatever the case may be
the waters do merge and begin working together to move down river to the common
destination.
As with the origins of the Mississippi River the ending
of this great waterway has a specific destination. While the origins of this river are very
small and minute the delta of the Mississippi is a vast system of drainage
systems that flow into the Gulf of Mexico.
The delta of the Mississippi itself is not one single opening but
actually spans miles along the coast of Louisiana and forms an entire ecosystem
separate from the land that the river just finished crossing. Sometimes the river is so full of water that
it leaves it banks due to the many different weather conditions upstream. Then there are certain weather patterns that also
affect the flow of water from the Mississippi and these patterns are strong
enough that the flow of the river is actually slowed enough to flow the
surrounding areas as well. It fascinates
me that a river so powerful is still at the mercy of other patterns that affect
its flow, in other words even a mighty river cannot control everything that it
wishes.
The course of our human life follows a similar pattern as
the origins and the destination of the Mississippi River. From a humble and weak beginning our lives
can go in almost any direction and take several turns at a moment’s
notice. We are dependent upon many
things in order to survive our initial hours, days, months and years all-the-while
we are hopelessly entrusting our parents for the vital support we need to grow
and thrive. Just as the small stream
winds through the marsh and wetlands, so too do our steps when we are learning
our new boundaries and horizons that present themselves. We continue our growth process by encountering
many different settings within our lives and when a change of season occurs, at
first we do not know how to adjust to the environment either. This growth and development does not come
without challenges, bumps and bruises and it is the new learning curve that
each one of us experiences every day.
After a while we begin to understand that our lives are
not as fragile as we once believed, and more situational circumstances present
themselves as we venture out into an unknown world. Our movements are further expanded and are judged
by how we respond to the new demands of our growth. Our youth cannot be summed up with one
paragraph but can be explained in short detail with the expansion of our hearts
through the new adventures that we experience.
Love, life and liberty are the basics that many of the youth walk
through on a daily basis and their struggles vary from incident to incident,
yet as the Mississippi River gained power and strength through its new twists
and turns the additions to its body increased its girth and stability to forge
ahead into its fullness.
Our adult lives become enriched with many of the
blessings that are allowed to humans. A
family, kids, jobs, friends, education and a happy fulfilled environment are
just some of the rewards that our existence can bring. It is understandable that not every second of
our lives bring this much happiness and contentment but even through the tough
learning times of adulthood provide us with an added stability and foundation
that we can pass on to our children and grandchildren when the opportunity
arises. This vastness and briskness of
life is also a common theme noticed with rivers and can be witnessed when a
powerful boat within the center of the river struggles to make headway against
the flowing current. Even with our
strong physical currents we still struggle within our lives as to who we are
and what our definition and legacy will be in the future. All of these settings can be wrapped up in
one single word and that word is life.
As we continue our course our destiny soon comes a
calling and we enter into another stage of preparedness. The Mississippi River has a huge delta system
that feeds many miles of land with a mixture of water, silt and other forms of
natural minerals from all parts of the country that are vital for the new
products of the area and so should our life produce the same as our last days
arrive. We can look back from our humble
beginnings and watch our progress grow as our lives followed suit and adhere to
the ethics of our growth as a cornerstone for our children to adhere to. As we review our lives we tend to be discreet
about some areas and wide open with others judging ourselves with due course. We look at our failings and short comings as
greater than our achievements which should never be the case. If a river could think I wonder what it would
believe about its course including all of the misguidings and losses along its
path instead of the great achievements of supplies along its path.
The next portion of our lives is when we draw our last
physical breath and enter into another completely different “time” zone. None of us alive have had this experience as
of yet and none of know when this time shall come. We all understand, and many fear, that this
time will arrive sooner rather than later and that we will miss out on many
things according to what we can see and know.
I have idea if a water molecule knows that it is reaching the end of its
river journey or not or even if it realizes when it is drawn upon the side of
the bank to dry up and cease to exist, but I do know that there are billions
and billions of these water molecules that reach their final destination and
know that there is some other job waiting for them in another place. Our last breath has been taken and we see a
new world coming into focus, but none of us can know what it is until we all
reach this destination.
Our lives have a planned destination and for us to reach
this destination we must live our life one day at a time. None of us knows when our live will end but
we were never created to live in this fashion anyway. We were created to be a thriving being, full
of life and adventure so that we may know the entire meaning of our
creation. In order for us to know this
truth we first must know our Creator and the reasons as to why He made us in
this way. As the water molecule has a
simple structure yet represents a huge bond when pulled together so is humanity
if we truly know our origins. It is
tough when our lives become rocky but we must realize that as long as we have
the truth within our hearts we will get through that mess and come out stronger
than when it started. All of the trials
that we encounter throughout our lives should strengthen us for our future, not
only for our own personal lives but also so we can teach our children and leave
a better legacy behind.
To understand our Creator is not an overnight process,
nor is our entire life either. We should
grow in physical stature and we should grow in spiritual truth as well. It is easy to compare our growth to a stream
and then to a mighty river but we really do not understand what kind of driving
forces we have within us until we place a tugboat in our center and it tries to
go upstream. It is at this time when we
must understand our reasons for life for if we do not we may force ourselves to
take a wrong turn and give into that boat.
A divided life is a devastated life and if we do not understand the
forces that are against us, this division is only a matter of when and not if.
It does not take very long to witness this type of
activity within a person. Just sit on a
bench somewhere and casually watch people as they pass by you. In no time you will see people in different
walks of their lives and every aspect of a human’s life will also be
represented. Pain and suffering will
soon present themselves to your eyes and if you listen close enough you may
even hear their cries of agony calling out.
Many reading this will be quick to point out that I am talking about the
physical, but I am not. I am talking
about the spiritual because it is the spiritual aspect that serves our lives
according to our Creator. Yes, our
physical lives may be in this manner and this type of physical condition is
serious and important to Him as well, but our eternal lives represent the truth
of our creation.
We may live a strong and fulfilling physical life but be totally
defenseless when it comes to our spiritual well-being. As the molecules of water leave the center of
the river or stream and wash up on the banks, it dries out due to the
surroundings, or they can encounter animals or other obstacles that would inhibit
or prohibit its continued journey our spiritual journeys may fall subject to
the same recourse. It is the job of our
enemy to ensure that our lives become so divided that we fail to see the
difference between our spiritual life and our physical life. There is a reason as to why it is stated
within the Bible that it is difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of
God and it is because that person fails to understand that both aspects of our
life are important enough to be kept strong at all times.
The foundations of our physical life are drawn up in the
book of Genesis and this beginning represents a small stream in the history of
man. As we progress with all of our
selfish ways and means we build our girth on finite details which eventually
cloud both the physical and spiritual aspects of our lives. It was God who formed us and it was God who
made woman out of man and not separate; there is a reason for this. God does not expect us to understand all of
His creation overnight it takes diligence and perseverance in order for us to
know HIM, not man. It is not fair that
we place our understanding in God through the works of mankind. Our understanding of God comes through
spiritual growth and daily communications with God. Our physical growth is independent from our
spiritual growth yet both can be just was weak or just as strong as the other.
It is God’s ultimate desire that when it is time that we
reach our physical delta, that our spiritual legacy will spread across many
miles not just a few feet. The physical
is limited on what it can do and how long it will be around, but the spiritual
is eternal and will have everlasting effects on one of the two spiritual
kingdoms. Everyone starts out the same
but it is our delta that makes all of the difference. How is your spiritual delta and how will it
reflect your spiritual legacy, the physical notwithstanding. If you are reading this article then you
still have time to change your spiritual delta content and I ask you to take a
hard look at your life, both the physical and the spiritual but mainly the
spiritual and see how it has been developed.
The pictures that I have included are of two sources one
is the beginning of the Mississippi River and the other is a picture that my
youngest daughter drew for this article.
Both are beautiful representations of what this article topic was
created for and that is your origins, beginnings, growth and destination; both
the spiritual and the physical.
DLB
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