Gazing Upon the Water

“On the road that runs around Mackinac Island the view is all lush forest on one side and all water on the other.  I’m stopping on that road in the quiet early morning.  It occurred to me that, while there is much more to see on the forest side of the road, my gaze is almost always on the water.  These Straits of Mackinac have long been a passageway of commerce.  Fortunes have been made, cities have been built, and wars have been won because these Straits allowed all the things needed for those accomplishments to get from where they were to where they were needed.  On this quiet morning I am remembering that my baptism was like that, too.  In that water connected to the Words and Promises of God, grace and mercy and forgiveness and sonship and life and salvation flowed from their Source to this one who needed them.  And how I needed them and need them still!  As I sit here in the quiet dawn and watch wave after wave wash up on the shoreline, I know that’s what God is doing for me every second of every minute of every day of my life - ever since that day he re-birthed me in the waters of baptism.  That makes this a very nice ride.”