RIPPLES ON THE RIVER

 

 
The last two Sundays I've told you some stories from the canoe trip Ruth and I took during our vacation.  We paddled a 60-mile section of the Missouri River that was new to us, from Judith Landing to the Fred Robinson Bridge.

It's always interesting to experience the same landscape traveled by Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery and the later pioneers who traveled to Fort Benton by steamboat.  This year we crossed the route of the Nez Perce Trail, where Chief Joseph led his people in an attempt to find safety in Canada during the summer of 1877.

As we canoed that part of the river, the wind seemed to remind me, It's not just about us.

We rarely encountered other people along the remote Missouri River Breaks.  The quiet made it easier for us to notice the wildlife--eagles and pelicans, bighorn sheep and deer.

Our solitude was disturbed several mornings by fighter jets from somewhere (MANG?) flying close by on exercises.  Then we met two guys in a power boat from Fish, Wildlife and Parks checking out beaches to protect the spiny soft-shelled turtles during their egg-laying season.

It's not just about us, whether protecting our national defenses or protecting the breeding grounds of our denseless animals.

We come to worship and we expect to get something out of our time in God's quiet.  And the Spirit blows through us in different ways, and we remember, It's not just about us.

In Christ, Ron