What’s tougher, water or rock?
Generally, we think of rock as the tougher of the two. After all, bonk your head on a rock and it usually hurts. Splash some water over it and the worst side effect might be wet hair…unless you have no hair.
Spend some time in a park filled with mountains, rain, glaciers and snow, and you begin to wonder if rock really is the tougher of the two. The same story is repeated over and again…snow falls, snow melts, water runs down the side of the mountain carving ravines, canyons and valleys along the way. It takes time, but eventually, water, frozen or not, falling from the sky, shapes and forms the landscape, and the rock has no choice but to yield and submit.
While hiking alongside the Maligne River rushing through the Maligne Canyon last week, I caught eye-popping views of how devastating water can be to rock. The current had cut a deep ravine hundreds of feet long, and over a hundred feet deep into the side of the mountain.
The twists and turns and falls and pools were a delightful maze to follow and explore. Sometimes, the canyon was carved so deep one had to lean way over the protective railing to see the stream at the bottom.
I said to my two teens, “The rock is like hardness in world thought that stubbornly sticks to its material way of thinking. The water is like the love of God that keeps streaming and running through human consciousness in endless volumes, softening and eroding the hardness until it gives way to truth and yields. Like the stream before us has softened this rock and opened up this beautiful canyon space we are admiring, Christian Science is at work throughout human consciousness around the world, softening up hardened attitudes and preparing the human mind to receive truth. It may take a long time, but like the water is tougher than the rock, love is tougher than any stubborn attitude. Just like the rock yields to the will of the stream, mortal mind yields to the will of Love.
My son said, “Dad, you should blog that!” So, I just did…
Your son was so right! Thank you!
I feel the deep meaning of Love in God’s work.
I’ve certainly felt the softening effect of Love in my own experience over the years, thanks for the reminder Evan, and for the stunning pictures.
You didn’t mean that it is only Christian Science at work in human consciousness, though did you? Surely not? Any one religious group asserting themselves as THE one is as divisive as that divide carved out by the water in your stunning photos. Blessings 🙂
To DrDee,
Interesting question you have about “…only CS at work…”
Yes, that’s what I meant. But from your comment, I can see that we each have a different concept of what CS is.
CS is simply how God governs the universe. It’s not a church, institution, man-made theory, or one religion of many. It’s just a name for God’s laws.
I find CS everywhere, in most all religions I’ve studied and churches I’ve attended. I see it at work in everyone, regardless of what church or religion they identify with. It’s a universal truth, like music, at work in everyone, whether they identify it that way or not.
CS is Life in Spirit. That’s it, really. It’s very simple. And Life is Good, God. So, anywhere I find something good, I find CS. Anywhere I see something good happening, I see CS at work. People have many different names for what they see as the laws of God at work in the universe. My name is CS. It’s my touchstone and place of reference. You might have your own touchstone. All the good you and I share in common, I would refer to as CS at work, but you might have a different way of identifying it, but it’s the same good! And I think that’s okay…
Evan,
I appreciate your blog and the ideas you share. Look at it daily, and often go away with some good inspirations.
Thanks!
Thanks Janine. I appreciate it!
Okay, Thanks Evan, I get where you are coming from. I call it God! 🙂