The Towpath Diaries: Rest

Some people use the Towpath for nice, slow leisurely walks or as a social time. Some people use the Towpath to take pictures of the scenery or the wildlife. Many people use the Towpath as a path for exercise. The Towpath supports all of those. But there are also places where you can stop and enjoy the beauty of this place. I like to stop and observe the people fishing in the Cleveland Metroparks.

Yesterday, I was up in this area as it was just a beautiful day. I stopped around this same area and just meditated on its tranquil beauty. Usually I have my tunes on but it was best at the time to take the headphones off and just listen. Much of this area in the Cleveland area of the Metroparks is industrial, but yet it still is spectacular.  There is a place where a railroad bridge spans high above and I like to just listen to the sounds of the train as it goes by.

But without a doubt, my favorite place of rest is the town of Peninsula, population 565. Peninsula sits in the middle of the national park. It has two stop lights, a bunch of little shops, two restaurants, and Century Cycles. At one point, it was a bustling canal boat stop—home to several mills, stone quarries and boat yards, five hotels and 14 bars until 1887. You can still see the remnants of multiple factories in Peninsula. Over 20 places are listed in Peninsula from the National Landmark of Historic Places. I always find the name rather odd as it isn't a true peninsula. One of my favorite memories is when we had an office in Peninsula.

Deb and I occasionally would take a bike ride and we would stop at the Winking Lizard and have lunch. Usually we would have something that would just sit heavy in our stomach like a burger which did not help the rest of our ride. But boy it tasted good going down.

Rest is a word embedded in the Bible. God rested on the seventh day (Gen. 2:2). Was He worn out and needed the break? No, He was establishing a pattern for the work cycle. We can't just work, work, work without taking time to stop, pause, and reflect. That is what God was doing; reflecting on the creation that He had just made.

Rest is also a word used to describe the endless ceasing of works to try to establish ourselves as good in front of a holy and righteous God and other people. Unlike the temporary rest of stopping from labor, this is a permanent rest. I think of someone who is endlessly striving to exercise to keep their body in tip-top shape. But no matter how much you exercise, you can't stop the cycle of bodily degeneration. It is a striving that is useless (I am not against exercise, believe me). Jesus said you can enter into His rest (Matthew 11:28-29) which means the permanent rest that comes from believing in the grace of God through Jesus. The concept of rest is a theme repeated and expanded in Hebrews 4.

The process of rest is still purposeful. Deb's folks had a sign at their summer cottage which said "Come and rest awhile". It is an invitation. You have to come and take what is already yours for the taking. We feel good when we offer to do the dishes after a meal and the host or hostess just says "I've got it, just rest". But we have to accept the invitation to rest. Are we prepared to do this?

The Towpath Diaries: The Valley

The Towpath Trail winds along the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The valley is a gently rolling ride with few hills. We live in Brecksville so it is always nice to get to the trail - it is a fairly steep ride down.  The problem is pretty much no matter where you live, you have to go back up from the valley (unless you live in Peninsula - more on that next week) to go back home. When we lived in Aurora, there weren't too many steep hills where we lived. When we moved to Brecksville, it became a much tougher adjustment to conquer hills. Even today, I had a heck of a time getting back up the hills to get home. Nice going out, tougher coming back. Muscles ache, trouble catching breath. 

I remember cycling with the more devoted cyclists from Christ Community Chapel. They had a day where they would cycle in and out of the valley seven times to train. Not for me - I prefer flat. Nevertheless to get to the nice ride down Riverview Rd. or the Towpath, it requires a climb back.

Valleys are like that - we wonder how we got there. And yet there we are anyway. Valleys are especially tough because the way back out almost seems insurmountable. Sometimes sin puts me in the valley. Sometimes it seems like a vicious attack from the evil one who loves to attack us at our weakest most vulnerable moment. Inevitably, a valley precedes a moment of summit. God is training us to rely on Him to carry us out of the valley. One of my favorite Psalm is the 23rd Psalm. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.". 

One of the things someone taught me to get out of the valley is to set small goals. Get to the next plateau, go 20-50 yards, but keep moving. Today, I was climbing out of the valley and the last few hills did me in because the obstacle looked too menacing. I did not apply that principle. Recently, I felt completely in the valley and I was having pity party after pity party. Then I blamed God - how could you do this to me? I have found that this principle of focusing on the next thing is really more  a matter of living life day by day. Don't get overwhelmed. Jesus said, "Do not be anxious".  Paul said "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." 

I have found that God does not resent requests for "fleece" moments. This follows the pattern of Gideon in the book of Judges. God shows Gideon His presence through little answers to prayer. For me, it might be showing me the power of trials, it might be showing me that what I expected is not what God expected, or that relationships matter more than circumstances.

Inevitably, valleys are a means to strengthen us and toughen us up. More importantly, it is a means to fully trust God who always wants what is best for us. Do we trust him?

The Towpath Diaries - Living Water

The Towpath trail follows along the Ohio and Erie Canal gateway.  The canal, built between 1825 and 1832, provided a successful transportation route from Cleveland, on Lake Erie, to Portsmouth, on the Ohio River. The canal opened up Ohio to the rest of the settled eastern United States. It follows along the Cuyahoga River where the river can range from rushing (not level 4 rapids, but pretty fast for a river) to almost stagnant.  More the former since we have had so much rain this summer.

People generally love water. Homes built along water or even with a view of the water tend to sell at much higher prices than those that are even a block away from water. Along the towpath, there are many views like the one above of the Cuyahoga. I love how therapeutic the sound of water can be. This morning, I was biking in the Bedford Reservation which adjoins the National Park by Valley View and just took a quick 10 second video of Tinkers Creek.

It is not surprising therefore to me that the word picture Jesus uses to describe Himself is "living water". A woman came to draw stagnant water from the well in John 4. Her daily routine required that she must do this to relieve thirst. Jesus says that He is living water that can perpetually satisfy the thirst within us. Parasites form in stagnant water. I get the word picture of smelly, contaminated pools of water. However, the process of living water going over rocks cleanses the water. The perpetual motion of the water over rough surfaces makes it alive. Even the dirtiest of water can be made alive if it is kept in perpetual motion. God is an active change agent so the water is constantly cleansing and renewing us and the parasites within us.

The living water does require one action however and that is to come to it and ask for it. The Cuyahoga does not come to you to enjoy it - you must go to it. Your action is simple - just ask God for it. God so much wants you to experience the living waters of salvation that come through Jesus Christ.

The Towpath Diaries - From Junk to Beauty

I love to ride the Towpath Trail. For those who don't know the Towpath, it runs 85 miles north to south through the Erie Canalway. I can pick it up through Brecksville Metroparks reservation. I love to ride either north and connect to Cleveland Metroparks or south to Akron. It is a beautiful ride regardless and so peaceful.

I am awed by a sense of God's beauty as I go through this place. Many times, my heart is brought back to how God works in the life of his children through the wonder of nature, His handiwork. So consequently, I am thinking through yet another series to match up what we see every day.

In the early days of the Towpath, there was a automobile salvage yard that existed around mile marker 28 of the Towpath.  In the early 1980's that area was reclaimed, cleaner up and now is a thriving bird sanctuary and beaver marsh. I can't find pictures of the original auto salvage yard, but I can imagine it looked like this.

And God turns it into this.

As I was riding today, I noticed a Great Blue Heron about 5 feet from the bridge that goes over the marsh.

 I was reminded by how God takes junk and turns it into beauty. God does not create junk. But sin taints us and mars the landscape of our soul. Junk is deposited and what we have left is a salvage yard. There may be good pieces in there, but you have to find them.

But a life redeemed by Christ "reclaims" that junk and creates a new soul (2 Cor 5:17). The "old has passed and the new has come". If you look at the marsh, it is hard to imagine that there was a junkyard there. But over time, God through nature redeemed the marsh. He loves to reclaim and renew lost souls that have become a junkyard.

The first step is to let him come into your life and start the reclamation project. This act of faith was needed on the part of those who purged the junk. God simply requires you do nothing more than ask Him of obedience and faith to clean you up. God is in the business of renewing junkyards.