The Spring

“inner wellsprings form deep pools of soul energy within us. For many of us, it has been difficult to allow ourselves to drink from them. We know intuitively that the first sip of intoxicating revelation is bought at very great cost. As if in preparation, the strategic part of our mind has already done a thorough cost-benefit analysis and is advising us not to go through with the bargain.
We kneel, as if by the side of a pool, seeing in one moment not only the fleeting and gossamer reflection of our own face, clouded and disturbed by every passing breath and the lives of all the innumerable creatures that live in its waters, but the hidden depths below, beyond our sight, sustaining and holding everything we comprehend.”
David Whyte

In the south island of New Zealand I have visited a spring out in an obscure place. It is at the end of a narrow dirt pathway, not even a roadway, but less than that. In an opening in a forested area lies a spring that bubbles up and becomes a stream heading towards the sea. This spring rushes to the surface and bubbles forth with such energy! It is a picture that I will never forget. Standing there, isolated from traffic or human noise, only the wind, the birds and the sound of rushing water that came from deep within the earth. An energized spring of water from somewhere unseen but powerfully visible. The word “spring” itself paints a picture of energy.

Wes Roberts has been writing about beauty and in this one he directed me to Romans 12 where again I see this spring. Not just any spring of water from the earth but the spring of ones God given identity that says:
· Take your everyday ordinary life…and place it before God as an offering.
· Deep gratitude for all the God has given me
· God brings it all to you
· Love from the center of who you are
· Live our your God created identity (Matthew 5)
· To find meaning and function as part of His body

This isn’t about what is on the surface, of what I can see. It is what is deep deep within us. From the center of our being, the place where the Divine wants to live and be the source of the spring that comes rushing up to breath, to laugh, to dance, to love, to give, to participate, to worship, to be unique, to function as part of something larger than my own vision or imagination. It is the place where His Spirit breathes into my being. Not to kneel and be intimidated, as David Whyte writes, but rather to acknowledge and grasp that energy from the spring, embrace and be embraced by the One who is the Creator of it, and live from the passion Jesus gives. To drink from this spring in the same way I reach for a full glass of water repeatedly during my waking hours.