Variations on Water II

All of the pictures in this post came from my friend David Andersen, a talented and inspiring photographer. 

 If you want to view more of his work visit his website: http://david-andersen.com/

I imagine the love of God like a river flowing slowly and calmly forward. Ebbing and teeming with power around me as I stand firmly on the river bed.  It is warm and golden, sparkling in the light. 

We are born standing in the river.  Sometimes things happen to pull us out of the river and make it hard for us to feel the love surrounding us.

Sometimes as we grow, we decide that we don't really like the river as much as we think that we would like the grass on the side of the river, or maybe the mountains in the distance. So we decide to climb out of the river. We wander away from the river and wonder why we feel so unsettled, so discontent, even sad.

Often we are afraid to completely leave the river, so we stay where we can trail a foot or toe in it, but not allowing of ourselves to step into the warmth and glow.

Elder Dieter Uchtdorf said at a General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October 2009:

 "Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you.  

God does not look on the outward appearance.  I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely. 

He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.

What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us."

God loves all of us. He loves us when we choose good and when we choose bad. He loves us unconditionally because we are His children. All of us. He wants us to be near Him and feel His infinite love for us.

Back to the river-

If a river is God's love, God wants us to be in the river. His river of love surrounding us, supporting us, giving us the comfort and the blessings we need every day. If we have made poor choices, God wants us to forsake them and return to His river of love. He wants us to step in and allow Him to heal us with His all consuming love.

And more than that, He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to have the courage to lift our firmly planted feet from the rocks and sand below

and allow Him to support and direct our course through life. He has the power. Do we have the courage to trust Him?

Even when we can't see through the fog of life?

Or wonder what direction He is taking us?

Do we relax and let Him support us? Lift and take away our burdens? Do we layback and relax in His love at the beginning, through the middle, and at the end of the day?

Do we have the faith and the hope that he is guiding us somewhere ever more beautiful than we can get to on our own? Even more beautiful than He has already brought us across the ripples of life to?

Do we really trust that He has plans which will take us in the morning to even more beauty than we already see? Do we?