Dear Lizzie Mae,
"So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders." -- Acts 14:3
There is a place on the Merced river just as it begins its flow into Yosemite valley where I discovered for myself the power of the waters. The Merced is one of the world's most beautiful rivers in one of the world's most beautiful places. At this spot the grade is steep and the rapids are fast and there is much water.
The day was hot. Bonnie and I were tired and sweaty from the climb to locate this isolated spot at a distant end of the valley away from the tourists. The spray from rushing water was cool and inviting. I wanted to get in it in the worst way. Yet, to do so would invite disaster. We located a large, flat rock and sat down with our feet in the swift flowing current.
It was not enough for me. Being the adventurous soul that I am, (some would say reckless 'cretin'), I stripped down to my shorts and stepped out into the river holding firmly on to larger rocks around me. The emerald-green water was mountain cold and icy from the Spring snow. The power of the current preposterous. Had I not had a Superman grip on the rocks, I would surely have been swept away. I found a place about waist-deep between two rocks through which the water sluiced mightily. I could wedge myself between the rocks in such a way that I felt safe. I stayed there for a few minutes. The sensation was hallucinatory. It was almost a sensory overload.
But I wasn't done. With my feet, I discovered two pointed rocks protruding about 18 inches up from the bottom of the river at just the place I was secure, and situated about twelve inches apart. Perfect handholds! They were about an arm's length below the surface. If I could just hold on to these two protrusions; if I could just let my feet go and allow the surging current to flow over my entire body, I might get that feeling . You know, faster than a speeding bullet; more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap . . . well, you know.
I did it! The water swept my body back like a flag snapping in a wind storm. Foam churned around me. Every square centimeter of my skin pounded with hydraulic pressure. I put my head under the water. Total engulfment. What a sensation!!! I never felt so alive!
"...the message of his grace?" . . . confirmed by miracles? Why miracles? Why not restful faith and peace? Why not soft eddies of a whispering breeze that sends us off into never never land?
Demonstrable power is not an unfamiliar friend to the idea of grace. Within the deep waters of the great river of grace there lies a secret. Two pointed rocks sticking up from the bottom. Deep within that river of grace you will find Power and Strength. When the grade is steep, and the rapids pound and poke every fiber in the fabric of our being with overwhelming, life-giving power. It is an experience you will never lay aside or forget.
