August 13 Water Spirits

During this time of stress and Corona Virus confusion, I find peace and solace on a shoreline watching the waves. It doesn’t matter if the water is fresh or salty, As long as it is large enough to have waves, I am entranced.I had an opportunity to visit the Lake Michigan shore this past weekend. The north western winds produced white caps and churned up water. The rhythmic beating of the waves as they crashed and removed the beach with each landing was hypnotic . I was reminded of the power of nature and it’s ability to mold and change the land. The beach is shrinking and the dunes are losing ground to the tides. In one place, a poplar tree on the top of a bluff had it’s roots exposed for twenty feet as it pointed to the water. Beach grasses were no match to the constant encroachment of the rising lake.I stand on the shore with my feet sliding on the sand in the water knowing how easily I could be tumbled by a wave as it made landfall. No wonder water particularly, moving living water is a symbol of renewal. I feel the strength that the lake gives my spirit and soul.I walk down the beach climbing over obstacles thrown on the beach. I end my walk at a set of stairs leading to a chapel on the bluff. There I find a peace in the space where the native Americans learned and practiced their faith from the missionary’s. I can look out and see their graves in the cemetery next to the church. Many are marked with only a simple white cross when a disease like measles killed many from the settlement. I hear their cries to the heavens as the waves continue to beat the shore. I add my silent prayer to all those souls to have strength and courage as we face the corona virus knowing that it will not last. I bow my head, feeling the past, present and future blend together. I rise, and dip my fingers in the baptismal font on my way out.Living WaterLiving water moving, carting life.Holds death and life in its shadows.It is deceptive in it’s calm morning demeanor, but by evening the tides and waves have changed their power.They grab stairs, chairs and sandy beach to the depths.I think of death but know that the items will rise and appear again . Though changed.So we are here but a moment and when the tide of death takes us,We will rise and be changed.