My early morning walk took me past a storefront with an outside fountain. The shrubbery was neatly trimmed, and the bronze cranes arranged in different positions of flying or standing in the shallow water. It was rather unexpected in that old neighborhood near a trolley station.
Maybe art, at least a courageous and costly attempt, and a way of adding a little grace to the dull greyness of surrounding bricks and concrete.
It caught my ear before it caught my eye. I heard the unmistakable gurgling and splashing of water and my eyes were drawn to the flow. I was a little surprised, for I had driven by it hundreds of times, but this time approached on foot, before rush hour and the swishing and honking of passing cars. I smiled as I neared the sidewalk oasis, but became distracted by another sound, not natural, but manmade and mechanical.
Of course! This was no spring, no artesian well, but a couple of pools recycling the same water through a motorized pump.
Then it hit me: how like some people’s substitute for joy, recycled hype, strictly human and artificial.
Jesus said (John 7:38) that His followers would have “rivers of living water” flowing from their inner being, speaking of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Rivers! Flowing! Spirit! Not a manmade forced trickle! Not a sickly, feigned happy look, but a healthy joy for nourishing the soul of the believer in his or her fight of faith.
There is much in our lives that brings us to tears, and we are to weep with those who weep, all of which means that we will weep often. But behind the tears of every true child of God is an inexhaustible stream of divine life that banks on His promises, draws upon His resources, and partakes of His joy. It is our New Covenant heritage, an eternal gift bought and paid for by the Lamb’s own blood.
“Even though you do not see him now, you believe in him
and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”
1 Peter 1:8