Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
PSALM 42:7
So much of nature we have tamed in one way or another. We cover long distances quickly and in relative safety by car and plane. We ship food, clothing, and luxury goods by truck, train, plane, and cargo ships. Our homes protect us from the elements with sturdy roofs and reliable heating and cooling systems. Electricity puts light and heat at our command. Indoor plumbing and municipal water systems bring most of us clean water. Although we pay for these conveniences, we don’t have to do hard physical work to acquire them, as many people around the world do, and as most of the world did just a few centuries ago.
Most of us are happy and grateful for this. What, if anything, have we lost by being insulated from the wild side of nature? And how do we find it again without risking our lives? We seek out beauty and grandeur in creation. We visit the ocean, the Grand Canyon, mountains, and waterfalls.
It’s not difficult to find an awe-inspiring waterfall, whether it’s Niagara Falls, Cumberland Falls in Kentucky, one of the falls in Yosemite National Park, or a smaller waterfall closer to home. Some waterfalls are wide but measure only inches in height, flowing smoothly over a rock lip. Others rocket down from high summits, looking string-thin from a distance because they plummet so far. Most are in between, tall and wide enough stop us in our tracks with their roar and their power. The spray nurtures plants along the banks, and when the sun is right, rainbows form in the spray. If there is space to walk behind the waterfall, we catch a glimpse of sheer abundance as water seems to pour down out of the sky.
Waterfalls are a joyous gift from our Creator. They remind us that not everything can be turned on and off with a flick of a switch, and this delights us. They bring us beauty and danger we can see and still sleep safe at night.