Peace as a river

 

Oh, that thou had hearkened unto my commandments--then had thy peace been as a river, and they righteousness as the waves of the sea.

1 Nephi 20:18

I talked about that scripture in my Sunday School lesson on Sunday and when I was preparing (and I was home sick), I went on a whole journey thinking about rivers.  I guess I had a lot of time on my hands.  It turned into a sentimental journey so I decided I wanted to record it on my blog.

The above picture is of 11 year old Braeden overlooking the Stillaguamish River, which is probably one of our family's favorite places in the world.

Rivers are peaceful.  Here's the Columbia, Mississippi and Snohomish:

They are mesmerizing to watch, kind of the same way a campfire is mesmerizing.  Rivers bring me peace and to think that if you keep the commandments your peace will be as a river is a comforting thought.

Except there are more than one kind of river.

Here is the Yellowstone River.

I still remember standing here with Megan and our kids.  There was no guardrail and it was kind of terrifying.  Megan and I realized that if we or our children fell in, there would be no rescue.  It roared terrifically and didn't feel peaceful.

That picture still makes me anxious because I remember standing there.

Here's another picture of what a river can do.  I don't think the rocks that have been worn away and transformed would call it a peaceful situation.  (You know, if rocks could talk.)

The transforming power of the Colorado River making something beautiful could be a whole other lesson, but the point is, rivers aren't always peaceful and idyllic.

On that same trip to Yellowstone, we went white water rafting.

The not great swimmer that I am, I felt nervous about it.  When we were on our way to the river, I said to Adam, "You would jump in and save me if I fell in, right?"

He said, "No.  That's now how it works."

You'd better believe I listened to every safety instruction given.  I made sure my life jacket was properly buckled.  I dug my foot deep into the space where the bottom of the boat meets the side of the boat.  At one point Talia, our niece, was "riding the bull" (sitting on the front of the raft) and fell in.  Adam quickly reached in and pulled her right back up.

Sputtering water, she said, "Thank you Uncle Adam!  Thank you!"

Because of our guide and heeding all the instructions (and the quick reaction of a strong uncle) we all had a great time.

I would go again.

The main river I thought about though, was the Stillaguamish.  If we talk about The River in our family, that's the one we mean.

While we lived in Washington, we went to the river many times every summer.  A handful of times it was hot enough that I actually swam, but usually I sat happily in the shade with a book and everyone else swam.

And Adam taught them how to swim in the river.  There are places where it is shallow, rocky, sandy, smooth and very swift and deep.  You can't just tell from the shore what it is like underwater.

For example, here is Adam standing on a smooth ledge while Mark is in the deep swift current.

Growing up swimming in that river, Adam knew it.  He knew the pitfalls and taught our kids early and often about it.  He also rescued more than a few kids from drowning while we were there.  If you don't understand the river and its currents, you can needlessly tire yourself out trying to navigate.

Beloved in the river is Hippo Rock (named by our kids).  Sometimes it was completely underwater and sometimes it stood out about 3 feet above the surface.  It just depended on how high the river was.  Even when the river was fairly low, it was deep enough near the rock that you could do a shallow dive off the rock.  It was their favorite place to hang out.

Adam taught our kids the way the river responded to the rock.  Water speeds up as it goes around the rock but then curls back around.  You could get very exhausted in the swift fast water trying to get to the rock, or you could let yourself go and then give a few strong strokes and get pulled in behind the rock.  

From my comfortable vantage point on the shore, I was always very grateful to have Adam teach our kids to be safe in the river.

That made it an even more peaceful place.

All this reminded me of another time we were hiking to the ice caves in the North Cascades.  It had been a particularly stormy winter and a bridge that we needed to cross in order to make the journey had washed out.

Someone had put a big log across the swiftly moving river.  I thought it was our cue to give up and try another day and Adam thought we could cross the log.

If that isn't a microcosm of our marriage, I don't know what is.

I was a little nervous traversing the river and looking down at all that water from the precarious log, but in that moment it occurred to me that I was the weakest swimmer of the family.  I figured if I fell in, I would probably be OK so our kids would for sure be OK.  Especially since they all knew how to swim in rivers.

So back to the scripture:

Oh, that thou had hearkened unto my commandments--then had thy peace been as a river, and they righteousness as the waves of the sea.

1 Nephi 20:18

All rivers aren't exactly peaceful.  Life isn't exactly peaceful.  There are guides and rules and strategies and strong uncles and people who know the way.

If we heed them, we can have peace.

Even more than that, we have the Prince of Peace.  Even in the swiftest, scariest river we may find ourselves in.  We can find peace.  Because of Him.