Over the decades I have deeply pondered the words of Jesus when he spoke about being the way, the truth and the life. I have meditated on how he described himself as being the vine of life and a narrow path that leads to life. I have also deeply considered what he meant when he said he came so that we might have life abundantly and wondered how much that statement, in fact, not only that statement but all these metaphors were meant for us to be experienced in the here and now rather than in some state of heavenly bliss in the future.
When Jesus said the path to life was narrow and few people find it I take that literally in the here and now. I literally picture a narrow band or edge that contains life and is difficult for most of us to find even as we perhaps believe correctly theologically. I picture a narrow gate or path, perhaps even hidden; “That place among the rocks, is it a cave or winding path, the edge is what I have”(Roethke). I picture a narrow edge where, “Even here, though something can bloom, on a silent cliff edge an unknowing plant blooms, singing, into the air”, and how, “If only we too could discover a pure, carved out, human place, our own strip of fruit bearing soil between river and rock”. (Rilke). I think of the men of faith described in the book of Hebrews who lived “in cracks in the earth and holes in the ground”, and somehow found a rich life in those edges even as they did not receive what was promised.
Do I have life? Am I truly alive in this faith I profess? Where is my vitality? Do I experience the flowing rivers of living water from my innermost being?
Most often I do not experience these rich waters of life yet, perhaps the closest I come to such experiences occurs when I am standing thigh deep, in clear, cold waters of rivers that have carved their edges into the earth. And I think I get closer still when I am fly fishing these rivers, these edges, with friends and sharing in that wonder and mystery.
This past weekend I taught fly fishing to two friends in 11 mile Canyon. We found a narrow band of life as we found Rainbow and Brown Trout moving and feeding in the South Platte River. My friends learned the techniques of fly fishing quickly as we walked up and down that narrow carved out strip of fertile water and we found those fish willing to take our offerings of well presented flies. We briefly and gently held some of those fish in our hands before releasing them back into those living waters.
And, in some very real way, I think we found a narrow carved out edge of life.
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