A Sermon in this Picture

A couple of weeks ago, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, my Friend Anne and I went for a walk in Victoria Park. It was an amazing hike and the beauty of creation surrounded us and filled us with a sense of passion and joy. On the way out of the park I took this picture and made the comment “ There is a sermon in this picture “. That has stayed with me and I have returned to this picture a number of times in the busyness of these last two weeks. There is something about running water as it makes its way over rocks and around bends that speaks to my soul and provides a sense of peace. Perhaps it is the notion that as the water runs it cleanses and washes away the dirt and grime. Perhaps it is knowing that the river is going somewhere, joyful in the journey that takes it to the sea. Ultimately, for me it is a combination of these things and even some things that I do not fully understand. The river has always been my place of refuge, renewal, rest and empowerment.

I remember preaching a sermon a number of years ago about the Exploits River that weaves its way through the interior of Newfoundland. A vehicle to transport people and goods, a place where the Salmon come to spawn, logs have been transported to the mill and created into other things and so much more. After that sermon a friend of mine, also from Newfoundland, gave me a tile creation that she made with a picture and a verse on it. It reads “ As long as I live, if I can choose where I live, I’ll be in a place that has a window looking out on a river. What makes a river so restful to people is it doesn’t have any doubt – it is sure where it is going and it doesn’t want to go anywhere else.”

Then a few weeks ago when we talked about reincarnation or the transmigration of the soul I shared this wonderful story found in Sikhism :

Think of God as an ocean and our soul as a droplet of water. The water droplet is separated from the ocean. The droplets come on land in the form of rain. We are like those rain droplets; we have been separated from God and have been born in this world. The dignity of the rain droplet lies in merging back in the ocean. Just like those rain droplets the main purpose of our souls is to merge back with God, to be One with Him. Our soul suffers from pain of birth and death and this pain can be ended by attaining salvation, merging in God. Gurus are like rivers, if the rain droplets follow the river, they can reach the ocean. So, if we follow our Gurus, we can meet God. Once a soul merges in God, it achieves salvation, gets rid of birth and death and all the suffering of this world. That soul becomes one with God.

So today as I sit at my desk and watch the snow gently falling outside my window, my mind filled with all of the things that need to get done, it is to the river that I turn. I join with it and find there a place of peace and oneness with the Universe.

Blessings
Valerie