I HAVEN'T THE FOGGIEST!
Fog, ever experienced it? Me? Well, only every day 'til I have a shower, a couple cups of coffees, and a few hours to wake up, then I'm ok. No, I'm not talking about your daily fight to overcome your morning coma. I'm talking about the real, off the ocean, sound muffling, can't see your car in the lane way, East Coast pea soup that we experience living next to the cold waters of the Bay of Fundy. Do you experience fog like that where you live? I imagine that the majority of you don't. If you haven't, it really is quite an experience.
When we first moved to Letete, New Brunswick, I wondered how much different the climate would be to that of Prince Edward Island. So, I talked to my buddy who works for Environment Canada (our Canadian weather service). His comment was "milder winters, more freezing rain and lots and lots of fog." Humm, I mused, lots of fog, eh? I filed that in the back of my mind.
On the weekend we moved here in 1995, it was indeed a foggy, foggy night and our first sleep in our new home was accompanied by the calming, slightly lonely sound of the nearby lighthouse fog horn. I loved it. I had finally fulfilled my life-long dream of living close to the water. Ever since I was a little boy, I've loved to sit by and watch and listen to the water. Water has always fascinated me and now I live right next to some of the most fascinating waters the world has to offer!
Wait a second, Grant, didn't you just say that you lived on Prince Edward Island? Weren't you near the water there? Not really, we were twenty to twenty-five minutes from the ocean and we lived in a dairy farming area that could have been in Ontario, or Quebec, or most any other place, for that matter. So even though I lived on an Island, surrounded by the sea, I wasn't really connected to the water in any meaningful way, except when we took the ferry to the mainland, or took the boys to the beach in the summer. Anyway, back to Letete.
That first summer we lived in Letete was quite foggy through the end of June, but I was determined to have a positive outlook. I remember going out on an orientation drive one evening with Earle, one of our Elders. He was gracious enough to drive me around the area and show me where everyone in the congregation lived and so on. By the way, that's one of the nicest, practical things you can do for a new minister, along with recommending good garages, doctors, restaurants, and all the other day to day details that we take for granted until we have to move and start over.
Anyway, that night was quite foggy and I remember thinking that the fog was like a warm hug from God and I felt enveloped in His presence. I made the mistake of sharing my feelings with Earle and all he could do was laugh. Seems that Earle hates the fog as do many people who live here. Well, in the last four years, we've really had very little fog. Oh, we have a day or two, here and there, especially in the spring and early summer, but it's not excessive enough to cause people to lock themselves in a closet, or hang themselves from the nearest apple tree.
Actually, it's quite interesting. It can be foggy all around us, but sunny here in Letete. I love it when that happens. Just a mile away in Back Bay, they can be socked in with the stuff, but we're cutting our lawns over here. On days like that we can see the wall of fog a few hundred feet out into the bay, but for whatever geographical reason, the fog stays offshore, like we are in the eye of a storm.
At other times, the fog forms six or seven feet off the water and land. It makes you feel like you're in a plane; just about to climb above the clouds. Fog really is a fascinating thing, although I do have to admit that I wouldn't want to experience it every day and I really don't like driving in it, especially at night. Ok, so what spiritual truth am I ready to drip from my foggy foray?
Water really is a unique substance, isn't it? What other substance do we see in liquid, gaseous and solid form? What other substance expands, instead of contracting when it freezes? Let's face it, there's nothing like having a hot shower, or floating in a pool, or drifting in a boat on a lake. We use water to clean, to drink. These days if you're tense, or stressed, you can go to a store and buy a CD of waterfalls, or babbling brooks, or seascapes to calm your nerves. What could be better than an ice cold glass of water on a hot, dusty day?
I believe we all have some kind of connection with the water that keeps us alive and covers two-thirds of the earth's surface. It's a connection that is as vital and as deep and dependent as they come, but our connection to Christ is to be even deeper. After all, didn't Jesus say that he gives "springs of living water"? (John 4:10) Ah, and if we drink of it, we are told that we will never thirst again. We can't say that about any other water can we? Even in our area, which is famous for having the best drinking water in Canada.
What does Jesus mean when he says that He gives living water? Jesus gives life. Jesus satisfies. Jesus refreshes. Maybe you feel parched and dry and thirsty even though you're a Christian. If that's the case then you need to drink deeper from the spring that Christ provides. If you're not a Christian, I pray you can recognize the thirst inside you for this living water. Come to Christ, believe, repent and be baptized and you will be filled to overflowing (Acts 2:38).
Finally, when I think of fog, I think of this passage from 1 Corinthians 13:12, which says, "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." Fog reminds me that as a Christian, I don't have all the answers, nor do I see all things clearly. I therefore need to be open to change, hungry for growth, full of grace and understanding for my "fellow foggys" and most of all, expectant for that day when all the fog will be gone because there will no longer be a sea (Rev 21:1).
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life." (Rev 21:6)
