House Divided VI

... and everything will live where the river goes.

 - From Ezekiel 47

My family has a tradition about living near water. But not the glamorous water; not a sunny beach and a lot of retired people. Our family waters are better water than undrinkable salt water. They have chosen flowing water as a centerpiece of their homes.

My brother's property is bordered by the Mill Creek near Dexter, Michigan. From there it flows into the Huron River, and then out to Lake Erie, ultimately emptying into the St Lawrence Seaway and to the Atlantic Ocean.

My sister lives adjacent to a marshy, swampy area - home to a variety of wildlife and lush woods. These wetlands drain into the Huron River system.

My other brother has a drainage pond on his family's shared land. Fresh water runoff from miles around, ends up finding it's way into an oasis in the hilly country of Oklahoma.

My parents settled on property that has a creek on its western boundary. The creek, which is rarely dry, flows into Dexter's Mill Creek.

My Dad's father lived in the Delhi Village of Michigan, which sets on the edge of the Huron River.

His father, Roscoe Darr, bought a home that overlooked the Mississippi River, in Illinois. Roscoe's mother, Elizabeth, grew up on a farm through which flows the Plum River. Roscoe's father, Henry, was raised in West Newton, Pennsylvania, within view of the Youghiogheny River.

Ezekiel was being shown an example of life-giving water. We are all familiar with the symbolism of water, in all cultures. It is the most essential requirement for life. The small portion of water that we receive in baptism, represents water that flows on, it joins other water and soon causes an entire region to be teeming with life. 

A single raindrop is part of a system that emerges in vast oceans. The water cycle is a complex but sensitive system that gives harmony and energy to the planet.

Small, dry creek, no matter what . . . soon becomes an overwhelming deluge. The trend, for water, is to become more water, and to make life.

But humans have it backwards. Our trend is towards separation, enmity, and death. Daniel's image shows a man who starts out at the head . . . where the mind controls everything, with order and logic. But as you move away from the head, you separate into limbs, and then digits . . . the human process is confusion and decay.

If we would follow the example of water . . . and work ourselves together, as a small river flowing into a larger river, and the large river into the ocean; instead of so defiantly away from others, which means away from God . . . We would have unity, symbolized by the ocean.

And everything will live, where the river goes . . . .