Run to the River


Almost every Sunday, I do a long run to the Susquehanna River and back from my house in Columbia. It is about six miles with some hills. My previous running route was from my former house in Mountville down to a lake and back. A shorter but much harder and hillier run. This run to the river is much more gradual up and down except for a couple of spots. The common theme in both runs is/was running to the water.

I am not sure why running to the water is so powerful a drive for me. The photo today certainly shows the beauty of the destination but it is more than that. Water means redemption. Rivers in particular enchant me. Always changing, always the same. Heraclitus pondered as much.

 “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” 

 When John the Baptist did his thing in the River Jordan, did those seeking redemption run? It is clear from the text of the Bible that some came to see John with bad motives. Perhaps to see the crazy man from the desert who ate locust. Not seeking salvation but instead to monitor the religious happenings (i.e. control).

The Gospel is not a trickle, a piddling stream, where we have to machinate for redemption with special rituals, chants, rules, and regs, just to get a sip. No, it is a river. Underneath the frozeness of man-made layers, God's grace flows. All He asks? That we run, that we run to the river.

     

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