Over the last few weeks I have taken you on a tour of Quesnel and shared with you what I see each day and where I see God in it.
We are a city built upon the rivers. The Fraser River, the Quesnel River, the Cottonwood River…these and many other streams and tributaries seek to divide Quesnel: North Quesnel, South Quesnel, West Quesnel. They are natural boundaries that separate its residents, and cause this tiny community to become even smaller communities forming a whole. However, these rivers also unite us. No one is far from a river, no one is left untouched by them. Many will remember the Mount Polley tailings pond disaster which threatened Quesnel’s water supply in the summer of 2014. While the city’s water supply was never actually compromised, outlying communities were affected, and the realization that the rivers could be tainted caused everyone to realize just what a precious resource our rivers truly are.
Jesus called Himself the living water. He said that “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)
At the time of the tailings pond disaster, residents of Quesnel were suddenly given pause to reflect upon the importance of the many rivers that shape our landscape. In a similar way may we all take a moment today to reflect upon the life-giving water that comes only through Jesus Christ. May we all drink deeply of that living water today, and may it nourish us for the tasks that lie before us this day.
Let’s Pray: God, we acknowledge that we often do not thirst for you enough. Today, give us a thirst for you that is overwhelming and may we turn to you for that thirst to be quenched. It is you, and you alone, who can fill us with the living water that we need to be your witnesses in this world. Help us to also lead others to the living water, that they may also drink deeply of you and experience the promise of eternal life. Amen.
Laura Van Schaick is a lieutenant with the Salvation Army in Quesnel.