I sat at the water’s edge. The wind was cold. The surface was choppy. It was not a picture of peace. I was praying as our staff was gathering to strategize on ways we could help lead our church through some of the chaos we are all experiencing.
I sat quetly and listened. The wind was howling. I could not hear much else. The wind was blowing directly into my face it felt like it could blow a thought away. After about ten minutes, I heard the wind less and had began to concentrate on the sound of the waves hitting the dock. The rhythmic slapping became a quiet music. It’s so hard to know what to listen to or who to listen to. People are screaming at each other and against so many things. The airwaves are filled with chaos.
While the water was being churred into a froth, it had acquired a sort of harmony. So much so, that when a small pied billed grebe (a kind of bird) popped up on the surface to my right my eyes snapped to attention. The beautiful rust glint on his head was the only color in the area. He dove back under the water. I thought of how the top of the water was so disturbed, but that underneath the fish had not been inconvenienced. The bird was not bothered by the wind, he was hunting beneath the waves.
After he disappeared, a coot (a different kind of bird) came swimming by from the left. He was taking the wind on directly and he was making steady progress. The wind was obviously impacting his speed, but I could tell that he must have been paddling so fast under the water. Even when the wind is against you, you can make progress through effort.
After several hours of meetings I came back to the water’s edge. The wind had died down. The sun had come out. The top of the lake was still blemished, but had grown much more relaxed.
One day, the chaos of these days will relent, something else will be looming on the horizon I’m sure, but we will look back on these days and have a chance to evaluate our actions. Right now what we can do is live below the surface, in the deep places of love and meaning. We can paddle hard against the wind. We might not make as much progress, but we will make some progress. Pray for the wind to die down and the Son to rise up.