By the River

Photo by Jerry Gorman

There we sat, singing first

   the songs we knew,

      then ones we’d only heard once,

         and, finally, as the horizon

      swallowed the red ball of fire,

   we sang new songs –

ones we’d never even heard.

It wasn’t Babylon, but it

   might as well have been.

      We were learning to let go

         of parts of what we’d always

      known to be true; kinds of things

   that, when squeezed tightly,

keep you from seeing bigger truths.

Our open hands trembled

   as the water washed across them,

      baptizing us with a hope

   we now knew more deeply

than we ever imagined possible.

We arrived with filters and magic –

   or technology as we’ve named

      and tamed it all these years –

   yet found ourselves wrapped

in a shawl far more holy and life-giving.

The stories, new friends, lives shared

   freely and without hesitation,

      all caused the water to flow like grace,

   into and out of our own brokenness,

“Safe water for a generation!”

Living Waters for the World

© 2015 Todd Jenkins