Go Find Your Waterfall by Rev. Brandyn Simmons
During my sabbatical, I’ve been afforded the blessing of having some great hikes and seeing some great sights: Crestone, CO, Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Royal Gorge, Rio Grande Gorge, and much more. As I have made my way around, somewhat planned, somewhat letting the Spirit (and my whims) guide me, I have found some real gems.
Climbing the highest sand dune in Great Sand Dunes National Park was like climbing a mountain that gave way under your feet with each step. Two steps forward and one step back for 750 feet. But oh, was it worth it.
Along the way, there were many times that we figured we had gone far enough and seen all there was to see. The winds were blowing fiercely, painfully pounding sand into any exposed skin. There were times when we felt like we might get blown off, but we kept on going.
By the time we reached the top, we were out of breath and ready to collapse, but we lost even more breath when we saw the snow-capped mountains in a 360-degree vista. The dunes went on for miles around us and looked like waves of silk in every direction. It was worth not giving up.
That same night, when we went up the treacherous road to our campsite at 9000 feet near Zapata Falls, we decided to stop and hike up to the falls. The hike itself was short, but when we got to the bottom of the falls, we saw that there was ice everywhere and the waterfall was frozen. We paused for a moment, looked at each other, and decided to live.
Holding on to anything we could grab along the stone walls of the cave, we stepped gingerly on ice and any exposed stone we could find. After a few near slips, there it was: the thing we would have missed if we would have just turned around. A magnificent sheet of ice extended up seemingly forever and on the other side of it, we could hear water pounding to the stone floor and flowing under the ice below our feet. The musical roar created a sound bath that echoed off the cave walls and could have been listened to for hours in deep meditation.
Too many times we decide we have seen enough or gone far enough and just turn around. We get something of an experience but stop just short of the real treasure. So, as an individual, as a church, where is your waterfall? Where is your mountain? What do you keep seeing unfold before you like a dream realized just to pull up and go back?
Perhaps it’s time to be brave and stop turning around. Maybe God is calling you and your church to something magnificent that lies just beyond that stone wall buried in ice.
Go find your waterfall.
God’s Peace on the Journey,
Rev. Brandyn Simmons, MBA, MGCM, MDiv, PCC
CRS Board Member
Executive Director Generations Care Partners Foundation, 501c3
bsimmons@generationscarepartners.org