Lenten Reflection - Day 18: by Barbara Vincent

By: Barbara Vincent
READING: Exodus 20: 1-17

Using a river as a metaphor for Jesus may be new to some yet there are many references in the Bible that do exactly that. Rivers have been called the Nile, the Missouri, the Euphrates, and the Hudson; the name we called it matters little because the waters all flow from the same source, replenished by the same cycles and stemming from the beginning of time. These rivers continually wind their way to seas that cover so much of our earth’s surface: each is different and yet the same. I grew up living close to a river. It wound its way through the upstate, eventually forming the Tappan Zee and then joining the Atlantic as it slid past NYC. I loved the river’s water; I swam in it and boated on it. I fished and caught blue claw crabs in its brackish tides. I watched ice breakers come and free the frozen barges. I climbed aboard a warship en route to the “moth ball” fleet anchored near West Point and, while attending college far away, I longed for the river sounds and smells, the Palisade Mountains and the Tappan Zee Bridge. I felt attached to that river’s life and the people who shared its beauty and promise, just as I feel close to all of you at St. Stephen. I rejoice in the belief that the river will be there, embracing us, quenching our every need, forever; He will be in each of us “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14
The Ten Commandments are God’s guide for a good life. Imagine how different our lives would be if everyone obeyed them! With a realistic view of mankind, I think that God wants obedience but does not demand perfection. Our Father in heaven has given us the instructions we need to solve many of the world’s problems, but most people have rejected a vitally important part of that solution, the Ten Commandments. "…Fear God, and keep his commandments: for that is the whole duty of everyone. " (Ecclesiastes 12:13)