Thinking Waters

I went to the lake this afternoon, to think.

I stood on the barriers, wishing I had a hat and gloves, but fascinated by the sheets of ice that formed and broke like the tectonic plates of the earth. From a distance, you couldn't see the gentle motion of the waves beneath the surface; the snow patterns on the ice looked fixed and precise, like a never-ending garland, or a lace doily. But standing on the edge, I could see how the waves had broken the thinning ice into smaller pieces, which were now rimmed in snow, and slowly undulating in rhythmic waves together. The centers of these pieces were thin; I could see the water through them. But they did not break.

There was one large circle of ice, floating off by itself. It sat atop the surface, but was flooded by each wave washing over it. I kept expecting the next one, or the next one, or the next one to break it into pieces, or push it down from the surface. But the circle kept coming back up, in one piece.

On this Sunday, two weeks before Easter, I feel like that piece of ice. I only pray I am as resilient.

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:14-21)