A Faith Journal

Dr. Suess once said,” Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.” I would have used the word imagination, but basically, think the same thing. Just think, many of the stories that Jesus told were parables that would have his followers imagining themselves in the situation that Jesus was describing and explaining. This allowed them to better understand what he was trying to teach them. I mention all this because my post today will require you to use your imagination. For this post, I’m going to be describing various parts of a river. Imagine you are flying a drone just above the water. Not so high that you can see a good portion of the river’s path but from the point of view of your head sticking out of the water.

In the first portion of the river, the current is calm and visibly flowing quickly down its path. There are a few ripples and swirls on the surface but only because there are minor obstacles just under the surface. In the future, those areas may become dangerous if the obstacles are not handled, but today they are very minor.

As we move down the river, we begin to see streams flowing into the path. They cause more ripples and swirls as the two bodies of water push against each other. Yet as they move down the path, everything settles and flows smoothly.

Then you begin to hear the water getting louder and realize there may be trouble ahead. You notice that the speed of the current is increasing and just ahead there seems to be a drop that is causing the water to roar louder. The fall over the edge happens so fast and all the water is churning and swirling to recover its path. Yet what is the correct path? Sometimes it’s simple and just requires moving forward. Yet other times there are visible obstacles and will require more force or an alternate path for just a bit.

As you look back at this drop or waterfall and the space just below it, you notice the churning and swirling have caused a foam to appear. For a short distance, after the waterfall, you can watch the water carry the foam away until it disappears. That is unless there are several of these drops or a pool that some water and foam get caught swirling in for a bit. Then the foam can increase or seem to go on forever.

After this, the path of the river has the same basic forms as previously mentioned: smooth, calm, rippled, swirled, choppy and drops. The changes vary based on the season and obstacles, but everything is basically the same.

Now think back over this river and see the path as your journey through life. There are smooth parts and parts where you recognize the potential for trouble. There is the addition of others on your path that will cause some level of tension and adjustment to include them on your journey. And because no life goes untouched by pain and grief, there are sudden falls along the way. All of these are needed to carry us through life. There is one area from this that God has been speaking to me through and yep, it’s the fall and foam part since a part of my path has included grief lately.

God has been drawing my attention to the foam that is created from the speed and fall of water over an edge. The water is being altered in the process and carries the marks of the fall for a bit. For us, the altering of our expected journey causes scars and changes in our paths. Even if we hear the roaring of the waterfall or know grief is about to strike, the scars and changes still happen. I’ve noticed a few different ways this foam happens at the waterfall and how grief affects us.

First there’s the slight altering of the path to lessen the force of the fall. This creates the least amount of foam and /or scars typically. You can get back to “normal” quickly.

Second are the ones that create a swirling pool and can trap the foam from lessening. In some cases, it created more foam. This is equivalent to sitting in grief and not wanting to move forward. This spot can be expected in the beginning and from time to time, but is not a healthy place to stay in. These scars can really cause damage and have us thinking that this is the end of our journey. Usually this is not the case. It is just a part of the spiritual battleground we must push and fight our way out of.

Thirdly, is the obviously altered water that has foam but continues down the path either on the “normal” or slightly altered way. There are scars we are carrying, but we can’t let that stop us on our journey. This version also carries the previously trapped foam that fought its way out of the swirling pool.

We will likely experience all these forms along our journey. Our stretch of journey looks and feels different from everyone else’s and that is as it should be. My one prayer for anyone during their grief stretch of their journey is that you get to realize that the scars and alterations that come from it can be a blessed example of how God can be present during the pain and create something beautiful from it. Take the time needed to sit in your grief and heal from the pain but never give up the fight.