{"id":1272,"date":"2017-12-14T21:07:39","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T02:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joshuastairhime.com\/?p=1272"},"modified":"2018-12-04T23:02:41","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T04:02:41","slug":"like-a-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.joshuastairhime.com\/index.php\/like-a-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Like a River (DOP #10 2017)"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a song that I learned in Sunday school called ‘Peace Like a River’.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 It’s a bit repetitive, but obviously memorable, and easy for kids to learn and sing.<\/p>\n

Rivers are the lifeblood of many people.\u00a0 Settlers would seek out rivers to start settlements near, and build forts with names like Defiance or Wayne on the shores of them.\u00a0 Even longer ago, the great cities of Egypt were built along the Nile.\u00a0 People have been building near, and living by rivers for millennia.\u00a0\u00a0Rivers bring life to those who live near it.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 \u00a0One can see why one would equate a river with peace and security.<\/p>\n

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Fall foilage over the St. Joseph River in Fort Wayne.<\/p><\/div>\n

The thing about rivers is that they don’t start out as rivers.\u00a0 They start out as rain or snow, falling into a valley that gather together and begin to move downhill.\u00a0 Or, as we know, some rivers start as a spring, seeping from the ground slowly but deliberately.\u00a0 No river is born fully formed.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 A river is not one ‘water’, but many waters gathered together.\u00a0 Peace is not one moment, but many moments, gathered together.<\/p>\n

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Peace does not fall from the heavens in one tremendous downpour, and does not spring forth from the ground fully formed.\u00a0 Peace is the sum of many smaller peaces, perhaps arriving over a lifetime.\u00a0 \u00a0Yes, 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.
\nCollect 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.<\/p>\n

Peace like a river, indeed!<\/p>\n

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Be sure to check out the other people on the journey with me at\u00a0254peace.org<\/a>, or on our\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>.\u00a0 There are some awesome people participating this year, and they all have something important to say.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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