You would think that a simple thing as urine would never serve a purpose other than the purpose of to be disposed of... Yet you would be wrong. The fact that urine serves as a foaming agent is often overlooked. But, how many people would ever deem that to be a purpose of that product whatsoever? You would be correct to assume that almost zero percent would find that to be true. Yet for some in a very small percentage it is true. Many things in life have a lesser purpose obscured by the inevitable fact that the first purpose is so obvious. I have a bar of Irish Spring soap in my car that I use specifically for making window tracks slide easier. I have a peanut butter pretzel container that now holds my spare change. I went on a kayak tour yesterday and learned a life lesson on Christianity, tenacity freedom, and the law.
Instead of
regaling you with stories of urine foam, house break-ins, or peanut butter, let
me tell you the story of the kayak tour.
It was midafternoon,
sitting around the grill, and I was feeling a bit pensive. Stories of Targums
and Mystery Religions floated in the air as children ran around the alligator pond
with squirt guns. Festive dresses, roasted lamb, and wine were in tow, and it
was turning out to be rather a glorious Passover in South Carolina. As a rather
reclusive person, often to recharge in social settings, I need a little time to
myself... A kayak tour would be just the thing. Getting prepared, I set out,
heading out. Not a hundred feet away I got the call.
“Pauly! Hold
up! You’ve got company!” Someone rang.
So I waited.
Paddling back I was relieved to find my new friend Miles climbing in the other
kayak. He’s another seeming introvert, so I was a bit happier than to have an
extrovert joining me. I don’t know; maybe he too, had to get away.
Paddling out
along the little shore islands, we found a Blue Heron family that wasn’t really
happy we had stumbled upon them. Dad took flight to get a better view and Mom
stayed near the nest. We appologized and paddled around. Quickly we had come
away from the smaller of the islands and spotted an alligator. The whole area
was in fact an alligator preserve so they were in abundance. We were on the
Goose Creek Reservoir, North of the Cooper River tributary, before it meets the
main Cooper River. It was nice and a little windy. If my memory serves
correctly it was 79 degrees Fahrenheit with a gentle wind coming at us from the
South East.
I had informed
Miles of my destination. A little ways south stood a large Utility Tower that went
east-west across the water. Seemed doable for a little kayak tour, and Miles
was down for it. He told me that he’d not been kayaking before; so as a former ocean
kayak instructor I gave him a few pointers and we increased our speed. I don’t
know if you’ve gone canoeing or kayaking for any distance before, but the
rhythm of the paddles or oars can be quite cathartic to still a busy mind. We
were in freshwater kayaks, a little different than ocean kayaks, but there’s
more leg room. Soon enough we were in the middle of the water, halfway to our
destination.
A flock of
Egrets gently flew overhead. At first, I had mistaken them for Pelicans, but
their necks are held differently in flight. There were maybe forty of them...
Pelican flocks are around fifteen from what I have seen. Whatever the case,
they weren’t Ibis’ or Storks and they were beautiful. We passed several other
boaters. All of them were nice to us, not thrashing us in their wakes. We all
waved, everyone was very friendly. In one vessel, a little boy held aloft a US
flag proudly. I suppose he wanted us to know that they were not pirates... Or
something... Mostly fishermen but some tourists passed us by, running errands,
enjoying their Sabbath. We passed by two boats connected together. Some buddies
having a talk I supposed. We were a quarter mile away from our destination.
The power
lines stretched overhead. The tower was one of those crisscrossed steel
structures, made of large triangles, towering upward. It was seated above the
water by enormous poles, like a square based vehicle from H.G. Well’s: War
of the Worlds. An alien vessel, having landed on earth... So out of place
in this natural water wonderland. I daresay the only natural thing about it
were the twenty Herons that were sunning themselves on the horizontal girders. When
we were around 100 feet away, I stopped, after a sudden epiphany. Miles was
behind me and I turned about, port side.
“This is it!”
I declared. “This is as far as many Christians come to the truth and then
decide to turn back.”
He looked at
me quizzically so I continued.
“Most people
I know... Most followers of Christ only make it this far. They get 100 feet
from the Truth that sets them free... Then they turn around and go back. They
are too afraid of what it will look like when they actually decide to obey Him
all the way.” I looked at him. “You know we could go back now too.”
He laughed.
“That’s what
I thought,” I said and turned around to finish the destination.
It was then
that a boater approached us. It was one of the two boats that had been talking
with each other earlier. He approached. It was an officer of the law.
Oh?
“How you
guys doing?” He asked.
“Great,” we
replied. “How are you?”
He eyed us
up and down.
“Just wanted
to make sure you’ve got sound devices with you.” He replied. “And your
life-vests.”
We both had
life-vests. Miles had his stowed on the deck-rigging, and I was wearing mine.
We looked around for sound devices, but found none.
“Well I’m a
professional singer. I can make a lot of noise.” I laughed.
He laughed
too.
“HOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!”
I exclaimed. My yawp echoed across the waterway. “How’s that?”
He smiled
and offered us citations.
Officer
William Bense of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources told me
that he was just doing his job.
I told him
that I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t tell him that Jesus loved him and
had a plan for his life.
He smiled
and told me to have a great day. He too, was a Christian.
Even though
the citations were warning notices, I still didn’t like being arrested on site
for something that really didn’t matter. I took the ticket saying thanks. Grabbing
the plastic whistle off my life vest, he said: “Hey you’ve got one right there.”
“Well. I
didn’t even know it was here until right now. But I’m going to keep the ticket
anyway. I’ll frame it.” I told him.
He laughed
and puttered away.
I looked
back at Miles. We were both a little abashed about the ordeal. But guess what?
The little chat had set us backwards from our goal... Due to the wind, the
tower was now a quarter mile away. Our delay had caused us time, and without
rowing, we had drifted windward north, away from our southern destination. I
laughed.
“Just like
the journey with the Christians. They get so close to Truth and then law enforcement
gets involved.” I jested. “I guess let’s finish the race set before us.”
We paddled
and we got to the edge of the tower. Going around it, I exclaimed: “THIS IS IT!
IT FEELS SO GOOD!” Miles laughed.
I was so
happy with my smallest of achievements that I circled it again, just to spite fate
and adversity.
Let me be
clear. I work construction for a living and Miles is a delivery driver, so the
arm-workout really wasn’t anything cumbersome for either of us. It wasn’t a
marathon, it wasn’t difficult... It was nice. But more importantly what it was,
was a metaphorical journey of realization and reflection.
The proof
was the eagle.
I kid you
not, it may have been the exact same spot where we were accosted by law
enforcement for our supposed lack of whistles... But where we were now, albeit
the same location was in a different time than earlier.
But in this
precise moment, we both saw a Bald Eagle swoop down and catch a goodly sized
fish and fly away. It was probably the most majestic thing I had seen in ten
years.
And we
wouldn’t have seen it if we had turned around.
We wouldn’t
have seen it if we had left after getting tickets and drifting backwards.
We wouldn’t
have seen it if we had not gotten tickets. We wouldn’t have seen it unless...
UNLESS...
At that
exact time, in the exact way, with every circumstance in play... It had gone
down just exactly as it had gone down.
“And we know
that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 tells me. “Those who
love God and are called” is what the text reads. There are two things in play:
Obedience and Predestination. Maybe not those words exactly; maybe words that
are synonyms of those words. Maybe it’s love going up and love coming down.
He works things
for us who love Him and are called by Him.
Deuteronomy
28:1 tells us the same thing, and maybe this is where the writer of Romans got
it from: “Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the YHVH your God, being
careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, YHVH your God will set you high above all the
nations of the earth.”
If you
love...
If you
obey...
Then you
will be blessed...
It happens that
my wife and I had driven two hours to get to the destination where we were
celebrating Passover. We were being obedient to worship Him how He wanted to be
worshipped. And I was reminded of this even this very morning, when I threw out
all the bread from the house. Obeying Him is how He wants to be loved. I can
say “I love you” all the time, but unless there are verbs involved – My words
are garbage.
It’s like I
told Miles when we had first approached the tower.
“This is it!”
I declared. “This is as far as many Christians come to the truth and then
decide to turn back.”
How close
were you to obedience when you decided that it wasn’t worth it to pursue?
When did you
give up?
When did you
decide that your family tradition was better than obeying God?
When did you
give your spouse the power to let you disobey God?
When did you
get “stuck?”
Was it literally
law enforcement? Was Officer William Bense there giving you a “Whistle Ticket?”
Obviously not right?
It was
probably Carol at the grocery store looking at you sideways because you’re
buying Kosher and not Halal.
It was
probably your buddy Greg at work, who gave you guff about not buying Christmas
presents for your children.
It was
probably Joyce at church, why you won’t celebrate Easter.
It was
probably Theo, who wrote you up for not coming to work on Saturday.
This is why
you just get Herons and not Eagles.
“But they
that endure for YHVH shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings
as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; They shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah
40:31
Pauly Hart