Just One River to Cross

Just One River to Cross
JOSHUA 1: 1-18

As I write, I listen to CDs, or rather I half-listen. I do not pay too much attention to the words, though sometimes they catch me out. One day the title phrase of Jimmy Cliff ’s “Many Rivers to Cross” caught my attention, and I listened more carefully. The song speaks of there being all these rivers to cross and of its being only the singer’s will that keeps him alive. Maybe he survives only because of his pride. He says, “The loneliness won’t leave me alone” because the person he once loved is gone, and all sorts of temptations assail him, and he just has to keep looking for ways to cross the rivers. I found myself in tears because it described my life at the time. It now makes me think about a student who was describing her life to me this week. She has one or two medical issues that she needs to have investigated, and she is supposed to be finalizing applications for a PhD program, and she has the regular demands of her program at the seminary, and she has the work that makes it possible for her to pay her school fees. She has many rivers to cross...