The Spirit Comes Tumbling Down Waterfalls
Read John 7:38 (in a few different translations, if possible!)
I have a tendency to get caught up in my head, thinking about the next task (or several tasks) on my agenda, making a plan, envisioning where I should be heading next. Because of this, I struggle to be fully present to the moment, and to notice the rich, soulful details of life that swirl ephemerally around me.
I suspect that God is constantly trying to get my attention to help me along, to give me surprising gifts and new insights—but most of the time I am so distracted that I might not even notice a burning bush in front of me! Luckily, sometimes I pay attention just long enough to catch some of the gifts that come to me in the flowing stream of the Holy Spirit’s activity.
The title of the book of compiled GPUMC devotions, “Living Water from a Deep Well,” is a phrase that bears special significance for me. I took a road trip to Atlanta with my mom a couple years ago and we hiked at nature parks throughout the Appalachian Mountains along the way. I was enthralled with the waterfalls we encountered. I felt a transformative Presence in their presence. I spent the rest of that semester of seminary visiting waterfalls and trying to figure out what they were teaching me.
I was well aware of the famous John 4 passage that discusses Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman whom he promises to give the “water of eternal life,” but the image of a well didn’t really resonate with a waterfall in movement. Only when I came here to Grosse Pointe, and I sat down at my desk on one of my first days in the office to look more closely at the cards I had received when I was commissioned as a provisional elder, I found on the front of one card a Spanish version of John 7:38 that struck me as if I had never read it before: “El que cree en mi, dice la escritura, de su corazón brotarán ríos de agua viva.” That translates to: “The one who believes in me, says the Scripture, from his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Maybe it was because it was in another language, or maybe I simply hadn’t paid attention when I’d read that part of John before, but something finally clicked: if I put all my trust in Christ, and am truly present and open to his living presence in my life, then the Spirit will flow through me just as unstoppably, gracefully and powerfully as the water that flows down a water fall. I don’t have to constantly be planning and scheming my life—or constantly keep busy with seemingly “important” activities of ministry. Being more present to the moment, to simply let the Spirit flow through me as it will, is what is truly required to be fully alive and help others do the same.
I struggle to pause and be present like this, but I know if I don’t, the well I draw from to do ministry will contain murky, stagnant water at best, or even go bone dry. I doubt this applies only to me as a pastor—most of us can get caught up in schedules and tasks and doing and forget how important it is to be with God. When you make time and space to drink life in, slow and sweet, you will find the Spirit speaking to you all throughout—tumbling into your life unexpectedly, delightfully, like discovering a waterfall along the path, or the right Bible verse just when you need it. And then you, also, will become a channel of living water for others.
Rev. Sari Brown
Read John 7:38 (in a few different translations, if possible!)
I have a tendency to get caught up in my head, thinking about the next task (or several tasks) on my agenda, making a plan, envisioning where I should be heading next. Because of this, I struggle to be fully present to the moment, and to notice the rich, soulful details of life that swirl ephemerally around me.
I suspect that God is constantly trying to get my attention to help me along, to give me surprising gifts and new insights—but most of the time I am so distracted that I might not even notice a burning bush in front of me! Luckily, sometimes I pay attention just long enough to catch some of the gifts that come to me in the flowing stream of the Holy Spirit’s activity.
The title of the book of compiled GPUMC devotions, “Living Water from a Deep Well,” is a phrase that bears special significance for me. I took a road trip to Atlanta with my mom a couple years ago and we hiked at nature parks throughout the Appalachian Mountains along the way. I was enthralled with the waterfalls we encountered. I felt a transformative Presence in their presence. I spent the rest of that semester of seminary visiting waterfalls and trying to figure out what they were teaching me.
I was well aware of the famous John 4 passage that discusses Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman whom he promises to give the “water of eternal life,” but the image of a well didn’t really resonate with a waterfall in movement. Only when I came here to Grosse Pointe, and I sat down at my desk on one of my first days in the office to look more closely at the cards I had received when I was commissioned as a provisional elder, I found on the front of one card a Spanish version of John 7:38 that struck me as if I had never read it before: “El que cree en mi, dice la escritura, de su corazón brotarán ríos de agua viva.” That translates to: “The one who believes in me, says the Scripture, from his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Maybe it was because it was in another language, or maybe I simply hadn’t paid attention when I’d read that part of John before, but something finally clicked: if I put all my trust in Christ, and am truly present and open to his living presence in my life, then the Spirit will flow through me just as unstoppably, gracefully and powerfully as the water that flows down a water fall. I don’t have to constantly be planning and scheming my life—or constantly keep busy with seemingly “important” activities of ministry. Being more present to the moment, to simply let the Spirit flow through me as it will, is what is truly required to be fully alive and help others do the same.
I struggle to pause and be present like this, but I know if I don’t, the well I draw from to do ministry will contain murky, stagnant water at best, or even go bone dry. I doubt this applies only to me as a pastor—most of us can get caught up in schedules and tasks and doing and forget how important it is to be with God. When you make time and space to drink life in, slow and sweet, you will find the Spirit speaking to you all throughout—tumbling into your life unexpectedly, delightfully, like discovering a waterfall along the path, or the right Bible verse just when you need it. And then you, also, will become a channel of living water for others.
Rev. Sari Brown
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