Water and Light

Like the photo above, we usually think of water in its natural setting as a thing of beauty. On my many road trips I've seen small, meandering streams or mighty rivers, like the Mississippi or the Columbia.
I've stood above Niagara Falls and felt awe at its power.
I've watched ships chug under the Golden Gate Bridge into the beautiful San Francisco bay.
I've hiked national parks in all of the western states and marvelled at the beauty of cascading water falls.
Yosemite, Rocky Mountain National,
Tetons, Glacier,
Olympic, North Cascades,
Rainier.
Without the beauty of the water, I doubt that millions of visitors would flock to these parks each year.

Have you ever stopped to think why water wows us?
Stagnant ponds, stinking bogs, oil-darkened beach water; how does that move you?
Do you want to spend your vacation admiring muddy, stinking water?
Obviously not.

We admire water for its clarity, its purity, its life-giving, cooling, refreshing properties.
When I see a water fall, the first impulse I have is to immerse myself in it. I want my body to be cooled and cleansed. I want to feel the jets of water pummel my head. I want to open my mouth and taste the freshness.

But it is light which reveals water's quality.

In the dark, a waterfall is only sound. It reveals nothing about the quality of the water. I wouldn't want to immerse myself in it. What if the waterfall were actually run-off from a smelting company?

But light penetrates the water. It also reflects. Then, like the whitest diamond, it wows me with its gem-like clarity.

Water is beautiful. . .

but only because light shines through it.

Light is the great revealer.

"...You give them drink from Your river of delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light." (Psalm 36: 8,9)