There is a song that I learned in Sunday school called ‘Peace Like a River’.  Unsurprisingly, it’s main lyrical thrust is “I’ve got peace like a river” and that lyric is repeated 6 times in the course on one verse.  It’s a bit repetitive, but obviously memorable, and easy for kids to learn and sing.

Rivers are the lifeblood of many people.  Settlers would seek out rivers to start settlements near, and build forts with names like Defiance or Wayne on the shores of them.  Even longer ago, the great cities of Egypt were built along the Nile.  People have been building near, and living by rivers for millennia.  Rivers bring life to those who live near it.  Crops and livestock can be watered by them, your family can drink from them, and you can travel upon the river quickly and with less effort than by foot.   One can see why one would equate a river with peace and security.

Fall foilage over the St. Joseph River in Fort Wayne.

The thing about rivers is that they don’t start out as rivers.  They start out as rain or snow, falling into a valley that gather together and begin to move downhill.  Or, as we know, some rivers start as a spring, seeping from the ground slowly but deliberately.  No river is born fully formed.

The Mississippi river doesn’t issue forth from the ground in one rushing torrent, neither does it fall from the heavens in a single tremendous downpour.  It is formed, one drop of water at a time, when 2 drops become one, when 100 drops become a trickle, when 10 trickles become a stream, and 10 streams become a creek.  A river is not one ‘water’, but many waters gathered together.  Peace is not one moment, but many moments, gathered together.

Peace does not fall from the heavens in one tremendous downpour, and does not spring forth from the ground fully formed.  Peace is the sum of many smaller peaces, perhaps arriving over a lifetime.   Yes, there are times where we experience a flood of peace, just as a real river does, but a flood is a passing thing, while a river endures beyond the downpour.
Collect each little moment of peace that strikes your life, let it mingle with the other moments until the swirl together into a river of peace that flows through your life, bringing life to all it touches, and bringing joy to those who set sail upon it.

Peace like a river, indeed!

Be sure to check out the other people on the journey with me at 254peace.org, or on our Facebook page.  There are some awesome people participating this year, and they all have something important to say.