Principles Verses a Living Dynamic: Which Came FIrst the Water Or The Word?

When it comes to the deep spiritual issues of the soul few things in life are as foolish as  merely following Christian principles for the sake of following Christian principles.

In “A River Runs Through It” we see the Reverend Maclean pondering deep spiritual issues. He asked deep questions to himself and to his sons Norman and Paul wondering if the water or the word came first. He would often sit along side of the river with his Bible opened to the first page of the Gospel of John contemplating the Logos, the word that become flesh. The reverend was aware that to the ancient philosophers, the Logos was the underlying unifying force of reality. It was beneath everything and with in everything. It was the “glue” of the universe.  I am sure the reverend was aware of other scriptures such as the verse in Colossians 1:17 where it is written, “He is before all things and in him all things hold together” or the verse in Hebrews 1:3 where it says, “He upholds all things by the word of his power”.  It was this Logos that fascinated the reverend as he pictured it being under the rocks of the river he fished.   

In the novel, the eldest son Norman tells of a conversation he had with his father. The reverend Maclean says to Norman, “In the part I was reading it says the Word was in the beginning; I used to think water was first, but if you listen carefully you will hear that the words are underneath the water”. Norman logically counters, “That’s because you are a preacher first and then a fisherman. If you ask Paul, he will tell you that the words are formed out of water”.  The Father then responds, with these powerful words, “No you are not listening carefully. The water runs over the words.”

I think the reverend’s response is significant because it indicates that he is not a man who merely follows Christian principles. His connection to the divine is much more. It is much deeper. It is a living breathing dynamic relationship. He does not believe in what he believes, as Norman suggests, because he is a preacher of certain church doctrines. He does not believe in what he believes because of his religious social status. In essence he does not believe what he believes because he should or because he has to or because someone told him what to believe.  He believes in what he believes because he has listened carefully; he has heard, and he encourages his sons to do likewise. He is one who has learned to be still and to listen carefully to the divine, even as he listens to the sounds of the river.

 “No you are not listening carefully,” he exhorts his sons. And all of us.

Likewise, I have found in fly fishing that there are times when even the best of us get caught up and locked into following principles. It is common to see fish “rising” to caddis and the fly fisher immediately assumes that he must use a dry fly when often the fish are actually chasing the swimming pupa below the surface. Or, many fly fishers insist on following text book principles to presenting a fly by quartering the cast upstream when in reality often a down and across presentation is far more effective. Fly fishers are taught to ‘match the hatch’ yet there are times when it is better to not match the hatch.  There are countless other examples of fly fishers following rigid principles that do not work in every situation.  The river and the fish are a living dynamic. Fly fishing is a living interactive dynamic that requires countless adjustments to an endless set of changing dynamics.

Living the day to day spiritual life is also a living dynamic and merely following principles, even “good” Christian principles is often not only ineffective but it can be out right disastrous. We cannot lock ourselves into following principles for the sake of following principles (or so we look like “nice” Christians) because the principle then becomes an idol. Sometimes Christians get caught up in the principle that they must always be “nice”, never say no, and can never be stern or must always…. (fill in the blank). Or some times Christians apply some “moral” principle (which amounts to a judgement) to situations when something difficult happens to someone else. Can we see how disastrous it can be to only follow a principle? There are countless other possible situations where following some kind of a principle is just not going to be enough.  Nor is it wise.  

 I hope instead we can learn to “listen carefully” to the living logos under the river and  under the rocks and under all things. 

If you would like to dialogue with me about this post please email me at suragea1@aol.com