In 1938 the Tennessee Valley Authority flooded this valley in Kentucky as part of the Works Project experiment that helped bring this country out of depression. My grandfather built a cabin on this lake in 1938, and as children my sister and I frolicked here over many Summers with our grandmother and learned about life on the lake.
I'm writing this from the dock on the lake that has immeasurable meaning and fond memories. I am here with my lovely wife Amy, our daughter Emma and her friend Alayna, as well as River, our water-loving Golden Retriever. They have come to love this place too...it is a refuge unlike any other we have experienced.
Often when I come, it is a spiritual experience for me and yet at the same time I realize that in some ways I have been trained to feel guilty when I'm having fun. I wonder if some of you have had that same feeling, as if Abba was not approving of us engaging in play. Rather, I have come to believe that He delights in our delights. His very creation attests to His desire for us to enjoy Him amidst the beauty He has created.
I suspect that most of you have a place that is like this, a special place that had meaning in your childhood and that has become a place like none other. This lake has been a place of consistency for me as I've navigated through the seasons of my life.
I think about the town at the bottom of this lake for instance, nearly 400 feet below the water. I reflect on all the years and lives that have passed since the creation of this lake. Near these waters I feel close to my grandparents and parents who have gone on...I share an experience with Amy that reflects our lives together as well. This a place of reflection, a place comfortable knowing,
So friends, where is your place, your refuge, or the place that ushers in sentimentality upon reflection?
One of the best possibilities of an organic group such as ours is the opportunity to know each other better. So here's the invitation! If you are shy about writing, consider posting a picture with a caption!
This is Dirk. My refuge is any place that I'm looking at Polaris. That's my special place from any location, whether for a moment in our field, at Indian Rocks Beach, from the Adena mound field at 1215 Hanley Rd, or at Unity Woods,...anyplace at night can work, but those places are special to me.
Polaris is symbolic to me because we always have that one light in the sky that will lead us home. It's the servant in the sky that points us in the right direction, at least in the north. It's always the immovable reference point when all of the other stars can be fickle and fool us by veering off.
It's that way with Yeshua. There…
"He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul." 😀