Amazing

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any–lifted from the no
of all nothing–human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
e.e. cummings
1894-1962

I led worship at Bridge St UC on Sunday and friends joined us from out of town so that we could paddle a portion of the Salmon River in the afternoon. The day before we travelled up to Depot Lakes and paddled in to see our adult daughters and their partners who were camping there. We swam both times, which was wonderful on those hot muggy days.



Yesterday we set out early to paddle a stretch of the Moira River north of Belleville, up to a set of rapids which are a torrent in springtime. This far into the year they are still noisy -- no, make that musical. We found a somewhat precarious spot to pull up our kayaks, then eased ourselves out into the rapids. We did a fair amount of hooting and laughing because the combination of cool water and current made the situation comical. 

We worked up our courage to move into increasingly faster water, then lay back so that only our faces were above the turbulent surface. Ruth is so much smaller she had to hang on to rocks for dear life to stay in one spot. The sky was a wonderful, cloudless blue, but it was the submarine sound of the water roaring past us that was the thrill. We hung out for fifteen minutes or more, getting our full body massage, eventually leaving reluctantly.

This may sound like a goofy expedition for a couple of sixty-somethings, but we loved every minute of the paddle and the baptism.

We are so fortunate in this country to have access to water all over the place. We can glide across it, immerse ourselves in it, delight in what lives alongside it and within it.

Our experience yesterday was physical, but it was also deeply spiritual and just plain fun. This month is Creation Time in the church year, and while we won't focus on water this year, as we did last year, it is always worthwhile to celebrate the gift of water.