by Steve Laube
During a recent vacation we visited a place in Alaska called the Tracy Arm Fjord. The picture above was one that I took during that visit.
As we past through these amazing waters it was bitter cold (note the icebergs in the water), in the early morning around 6 a.m., and with a chilly wind to accompany us. But rather than be frozen by the weather I was mesmerized by the number of waterfalls along this 30 mile long fjord. There were hundreds of them. Most did not have a name because there were so many. In the above photo, if you click to make it larger, there are at least three, if not more.
And then it struck me. The words we write and the authors who write them are like these waterfalls.
They are plentiful and beautiful.
But many remain nameless.
And yet, without them the fjord is unfilled and the oceans run dry.
Each waterfall carves it path from the side of a granite mountain. And each drop, each “word,” brings a bit of life to a world that is dying of thirst. Slicing through the unyielding stone of suffering, loss, heartache, and pain. Each waterfall leaves an indelible mark along its path.
Thus, even among icebergs and glaciers I couldn’t help but think of the profession to which we have been called. The motto for our agency is “To Help Change the World Word by Word.” And in Tracy Arm Fjord that idea was illustrated by hundreds of tiny waterfalls doing what they had been created to do.
Next time you think you are laboring in vain remember that your next sentence may be the one that makes a difference. Or your next paragraph is the one that helps fill an ocean, one drop at a time.
As Job said…”He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.”
What uplifting words to read on a Monday morning. Thanks for sharing and encouraging.
That is so encouraging. Thank you!
Steve, you managed to encourage me and make me shiver from the cold. Brrr… Now’s the time I wish I didn’t have a good imagination. Brrrr….. 😉
Our temperatures have just dropped from nearly two months of averages of 100 degrees plus to today’s expected high of 77. We’re feeling the shivers of autumn here after a Saharan summer. My writing has been similarly arid.
Your post is a great encouragement. If water can flow even when the temperature would block it’s movement, so can my words. Thank you.
Thanks for allowing God to give you these insights from a remote locale. It’s a good reminder that He is trying to speak to us all in the everyday events, as well as His Word.
This is a great encouragement for us all to carry on with our calling from Him to reach a thirsty, hurting, dying world ‘word by word.’
Creation can tell us so much. Thank you!
Steve, what a beautiful picture, and an even more beautiful blog. We passed that same place only two months ago while in Alaska, and it was breathtaking. Your words today are such an encouragement for writers. It blessed and encouraged me. And you’re a fine poet!:-)
My mother and stepfather are enroute to their Alaskan cruise ship right now. Hope they took enough warm clothes! lol
And this blog post reminds me of the spine-tingling verse to the hymnal, “The Love of God”….
“Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.”
This is one of my most favorite verses of song, and I belt out the words every time we sing it at church. Then I really get going on the chorus!
May our words water the arid desert of this land and bring forth fruit for the Master’s hand.
AMEN!!
A beautiful image – thanks so much for sharing, Steve.
A lovely image, Steve! Thanks for that…