Raging

 July 17, 2021

The creek behind our house is angry, raging and rushing in a powerful torrent that sweeps away everything before it. It’s been raining almost nonstop for days, soaking the ground till even the gravel is soggy. Earlier today, I walked down to the swimming hole; the water was high, nearly obliterating the waterfall as it crashed its way downstream. A branch was caught in the eddy at the edge of the water; every so often one end would catch the current midstream till it spun around and once more languished in the still waters near the bank.

Jesus once told his disciples to “launch out into the deep” (Luke 5:4). The waters are smooth in the shallows, but that’s not where the action is. Most of the time, we prefer the eddies. We like the imagery of Psalm 23 where we are led beside still waters; the raging current is unmanageable and dangerous, so we stay close to shore. But then we wonder why life is so unremarkable, so insipid…so dull, even. The eddies keep recycling the same water. Nothing changes. It circles round again and again, never going anywhere, never making any progress. So we stick a toe out into the current while the rest of us stays caught in the quiet. After a brief swirl in the middle of the stream, we float back to familiar and calm waters and wonder why life has lost its sparkle.

The current raging in the deep waters isn’t safe (Jesus never promised safety), but when we learn how to ride the wave, it is exciting, challenging, opening new vistas as we rush downstream, navigating the Power that pushes us to our destination. The Holy Spirit is that river. It has its eddies, but out in center stream, the current courses and dances with a fury that has to be experienced to be appreciated. We’ve been circling around in the eddies long enough. It’s time to launch out into the deep to see where the Spirit of Christ takes us in his wild, torrential flow.