The Way to Cross
The girl, dressed in a plaid school pinafore uniform, white knee socks, white blouse and black strapped shoes, carrying a pink and white backpack, looked ready for school. She was dressed in the same type of uniform that Filly wore when she went to Catholic school.
The girl, facing a torrential river with foaming water swirling past her, saw the net, attached to a type of zip-line, and grabbed the net with both hands. She pulled back on the net to give it some momentum as she then swung forward on the net, holding with both hands, and flinging herself into the air. The net on the rope, swung the girl across the raging river as she bent her knees up, holding them only inches above the water. The girl, who seemed nonplussed, dropped to the ground on the other side, and picked her way across the stone riverside, continuing on her way to school.
There was a dim light above the tangle of trees and the thunderous gray river, that showed evidence of cars parked in the dark woods…hopefully a road existed where the rest of her travels would not be so difficult.
The student was in Columbia. She wanted an education. The hazard to her life, below her dangling feet, as she crossed the river, was not a concern to her. She trusted the way she had to cross … feet not touching the ground, but also untouched by the torrent.
Filly thought about this as she re-watched the video playing on social media. Christians were dealing with non Christian entities, which SEEMED to threaten to destroy them and prevent their way, the same as a gigantic flooding river, seemed to block the way of the girl.
The way to cross, Filly believed was the way of the CROSS. Trusting God, and listening to the bible, was a better “Net” at a girl or boy could grab on to, than the “InterNET”. Like the girl swinging over death and destruction in one fell swoop, Christians also could step past and swoop over, all the evil put in their way.
The raging river, which seemed formidable, and seemed much stronger than any single girl, could not stop her and she prevailed. God prevails. Christians prevail, and the river can do no harm.
Those who “go with the flow” of the river, will not end up where they think they should. Using evil to accomplish “seeming good” will fail. The smart ones, like the girl, do not even put a toe in the deadly swirling liquid mass. They find the way to cross.
Water, like Fire, can be a blessing or a curse. To a baby in a calm wading pool, splashing on the steps, with an adult teaching about swimming and blowing bubbles, water represents cool refreshment and joy. The baby laughs and gurgles, surrounded by the deliciousness of it.
The baby does not see anything but the good that the water has to offer. But what if someone tries to harness the power of the water and make it become a river to torment good people?
A bad president, or a bad pope, or bad judges, can indeed, seem to make the water deeper and more violent or, like the screen on her computer, make the woods seem more treacherous and more formidable.
And yet, the crossing is always there. The new president, the new pope, and the dawn of a new age, where Christians RECOGNIZE the gift of the cross, is still the only outcome. The good ones will land on both feet, on the other side of evil, without a look back in that direction, ready to learn more about the bible, and how it gives clear descriptions, so that the faithful can go forward without fear.
For this girl and the spiritual analogy, Filly was grateful. And she hoped those in South America, and Europe, and the world, could see that wisdom does not try to control or harness the power of the river, or jump into the river thinking they will survive its destruction. Good rises above it, and God is the only power.