“This then is salvation”, mystic Meister Eckhart wrote, “when we marvel at the beauty of created things and praise the beautiful providence of their Creator”
I was able to sit a while and marvel at the beauty of creation as Tim worked to get this and other photos of Green Falls. The week before school started we took time to camp and hike in the Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This thumb of land juts out into to Lake Superior and is filled with trails and beaches. There was so much to marvel at. It was just the pause I needed before starting again as a paraprofessional at one of our local middle schools.
The sounds and beauty of the waterfalls we experienced on our hikes filled my spirit. I found myself singing the Cris Williamson song, “Waterfall”. Part of the lyrics are:
When you open up your life to the living
All things come spilling in on you
And you’re flowing like a river
The Changer and the Changed
You’ve got to spill some over
Spill some over
Spill some over
Over all
Filling up and spilling over
It’s an endless waterfall
Filling up and spilling over
Over all
Just before leaving for our camping trip I preached at my former congregation as part of their 150th anniversary celebration. We gathered outside in the parking lot near their newly lit bell tower. It was wonderful to be invited back by their interim pastor. I retired during the height of the Covid pandemic and so literally haven’t been able to see most of those people in over two years. There was joy in the gathering and in the remembering the 150 years of ministry on the east hillside. The morning sun broke through the fog as we sang together. Here is a link to a copy of my sermon that day: Standing Tall on The Hillside.
There was a filling up and spilling over as we remembered some of the history of Peace Church. I was able to share a few of their stories that morning. There were the stories of the bells in the tower and other stories of hope and healing work done by this congregation. Some of my favorite memories are of the many work camps we did with the high school youth.
One of those first work camps was with SALSA (service and learning in San Antonio). We spent our days building ramps for neighborhood folks, working in a soup line or helping out in a daycare. We rose early, worked hard, toured the town by foot or bus and ended the day with prayer and singing.
One evening when the youth were’t ready for sleep, a pitcher of water was placed on the kitchen table. Drop by drop Peter (one of the kids) added to the water some of the most powerful tabasco sauce you will ever taste. This tabasco was so hot that it required an adult to legally purchase it for him. The water was then poured out in spicy hot drops onto the waiting tongues of some of the youth. The drops burned a bit as they went down your throat. Only the really, really brave, Peter, Aaron, Scott and Meghan, drank the water. But I do remember that those spicy drops of water made us all laugh. We laughed until water also poured out as tears.
Filling up and spilling over
It’s an endless waterfall
I remembered those youth, now grown with children of their own, as I made my way up the hill to school my first morning back at work with middle schoolers. There was a haze in the sky that first day of school too. Smoke from the fires in Montana hung high in the air. We are all connected. I find myself praying a lot for creation and kids these days. I marvel at their beauty and in this I find salvation.
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Isaiah 12:3
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