As I Went Down to the River to Pray…

I went to an old fashioned “down at the river” baptism yesterday. As I watched the preacher immerse the participants, I noticed that with each one, as they went into and came up out of the water, the water rippled out from them much in the same way as when one tosses a rock into the water.

As I watched the ripples waft farther and farther away, the next person was submerged and the ripples started anew. And I thought about how appropriate - how metaphorically true that was. Each of our lives “ripples” out to reach other’s lives, and then their lives in turn “ripple” out as well. You will reach people that I will never know, and your impact on my life will, in turn, reach people you will never know - and their lives will reach even beyond your or my wildest imagination.

Someone once said, “We stand on the shoulders of the Saints…” and indeed we do.

Then I saw another thing. There were 3 adults and 2 children. The adults went first with the children following and I thought again, how true. For as the ripples of the adults begin to fade away and meld into the river’s current, then the ripples of the younger generation started anew. And that’s how it should be. As God calls Saints to their reward, this earthly cycle starts yet again.

Moses died and Joshua led the children of Israel across the Jordan River. Elijah laid his mantel on Elisha. David gave the throne to Solomon. Jesus told Peter to “feed My sheep” and He gave us the Great Commission to go into all the world, “baptizing in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit” so that the “ripples” will continue to flow…

Think about it, are we creating ripples, or just making waves?

Amen

Betty J. Newman ©August 14, 2005