The Day on The Water

The day had come. I was on my way to the waters that run underneath the railroad trestle bridge where God and I reunited many years ago.

I had always wanted to explore the areas that I couldn't see beyond the bend in the river. Finally, I had the opportunity.

I loaded the kayak into the minivan - yes, into. :) - and headed west. I hadn't been to the trailhead in over a year. Back in the day - when I lived across the street - I visited every day.

I wasn't sure exactly what I'd find. I know things change through the years - and I knew that most of the houses down the hill from where I lived would have been significantly damaged by the flood this past May.

I drove down the road. I was right. Most of the houses there were in the process of being rebuilt - or had been abandoned. Sad, really. And, sad, also that I hadn't known a single neighbor when I lived there.

It was there that I began my comparisons of then and now. I realized that back then, not only did I not take action on buying myself a kayak, I also never asked if I could borrow one. Even if I had, I'm not sure I would have had the courage to get myself out on the water.

But, these days, I do. I set the boat in, loaded with my snack, my lunch, my paper, a pen, my camera and my phone, (Just gotta say here... LOVE the GPS/Map feature on my phone and used it to it's full capacities!) and I was off....

One of the things I had intended to do was make a list of all of the false truths that had been tormenting me on Saturday. I backed the kayak up against the shore of the peninsula where the cows grazed, pulled out the pen and began to write.

After I wrote the second statement, I paused and thought through the rest of the process. These false statements would be burnt up .... but wait... what I wrote was TRUE. Really. Seriously.

I had begun writing the truth of what I know about food, and my body. The real truth, not the world's truth.

I pulled out another piece and started again. What was it that was bothering me so much on Saturday? Couldn't remember. Oh yeah. I wrote it down.

When I had filled the page, I wadded it up, placed it in the empty tuna can I had brought and set it afire. The smoking can, I then placed floating beside me on the water.

As the lies turned to smoke and the paper to ashes, I prayed: "Stand between me and the lies of the world. As they are spoken to me, whisper the truth into my ear and engrave it in my heart."

When the smoke had stopped and the can had cooled, I put the whole mess back into the ziploc it had been packaged in, and set off to explore further.

As I paddled around the waters, from time to time, I'd hear a truth. There I'd pause, pull out the paper and pen, and write them down.

It wasn't a day of drama, and there were no tears. It was a day of being quietly on the waters with God and hearing small - but somehow crucial - truths being whispered into my heart.