Waterfalls

So I was running the other day, and as I sometimes do, I veered from the trail and let my feet carry me wherever they deemed worthy. I was lost in the music spilling from my headphones, enjoying the beauty of the day, marvelling at the mansions surrounding me, when suddenly...I realized where I was. My body had, without coersion from my mind, taken me to a place where I once met myself. A place where I discovered who I could be, and was forced to admit who I was. I was in Highland Park...land of Dallas Old Money....and scattered throughout this palatial neighborhood are the most glorious parks and creeks known to North Texans. Tucked behind a park there is a spot that is almost hidden...you have to actually stumble upon it to know it's there. You clamber around some rocks, then all of a sudden...you are face to face with a waterfall...an honest to god waterfall. Technically, it's just the spilloff from the pond above, but when you're on level with it...you feel lost...like..."How the crap did a waterfall end up in the middle of Dallas?" lost.

I've been to this place before...I spent time here during a drought in my life. I left my mark on this place on multiple occasions. Some of them bring back hurt, and as my breathing slows and I stand with my hands on my knees, my mind reels with accusations. "Do you remember another time in your life you were here?", my conscience seems to whisper at me. "Here you are again...running." Although this time, I was simply running. With no thought to do harm to myself or those around me...I was running for the sheer joy of it. With that thought, my mind fast forwarded to another time I visited this waterfall. I spent a night under the stars, climbing the slippery rocks, standing under the spray of the water...the cold drops mixing with silver tears already streaking my cheeks. All alone, I stood. I raised my arms to the sky and came face to face with the Holy One. He who could erase everything. He who could give man the creativity to orchestrate a waterfall into the middle of a city landscape. He who could cast my sins as far as the east is from the west.

On this strangely warm February afternoon...I looked at this spot, this meaningful spot...and simply smiled. For I am thankful for each and every waterfall in my life. For being reminders of who I once was, and who I am now. And how, no matter how hard I try to run...I'm not that far from the girl I've always been. A little wiser maybe...but still a girl who can stop everything and get lost in a moment. A girl who takes the time to seek out waterfalls...and to raise her arms to the God that made her.

When accusations of my past are hurled at me like poisonous barbs...I will simply tell myself..."Hey...I'll always have waterfalls..." and smile.