I was reading in Isaiah this morning and Isaiah 41:18 says, “I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.” It made me think of a particular part of the county that I have passed through in my travels…for several years, my family vacationed in the southwest part of Colorado. As we made the drive from the St. Louis area to Colorado, we passed varying types of terrain. The Missouri river bottom land, the plains of Kansas, into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado but along the way there was a particular area that used to always amaze me. As we were passing through this valley, on a two-lane highway with the mountains in the distance, there were homes with tractors, horse trailers, gardens, flowers planted in the ground, etc. and on this same side of the road there was a small stream running through the land. On the other side of the road there was no stream….just dry, dusty, rocky soil and a few homes with animals and tractors, but no one had a garden or flowers. One side had trees, green grass and wildflowers. The other side had dirt, rocks and brown weeds. I often wondered about people on the side without the stream. Where did they get their water? Where did their animals drink? The above referenced scripture from Isaiah reminded me of this area. For me, this part of the country was such a vivid reminder that without water, the land struggles and without water we as humans thirst and eventually die.
The presence of Christ in my heart is like a river in a dry land. Don’t get me wrong, I am NOT saying that I am lush and green…far from it, many times I feel like my life is the dry, rocky, dusty soil…BUT, with God’s grace I have the POTENTIAL of having a lush, green life. The HOPE of having a lush, green life. The POSSIBILITY of having a lush, green life.
In today’s reflection in Living Faith, Sr. Joyce Rupp, O.S.M. wrote: “This is the wonder and blessing of the coming of Christ into each one’s life. All we need to do is open our hearts to the ceaseless river of Love waiting to flow through us.”
Can we even begin to imagine the wonderful things that Christ has in store for those of us who are his children if we TRULY open up our hearts to him? Just as the stream running through the land in Colorado gave the pasture grass, gave the family water for their animals and their garden and gave the land LIFE…so can Christ do that for us and for our lives. But…just as a dam can stop the flow of a river or stream, as humans we can put up barriers that prevent Christ’s love from flowing through us.
Lord, please help me to be open to the river of your love today. Help me be an example of your love by my words, thoughts and actions. Help me embrace all that you have for me and be able to accept whatever comes my way. Please, Lord, help me not to put up dams that prevent me from experiencing your love fully.
I hope you have a blessed day….
Chatter