Friday, February 26

by Betty Iwan

For inspiration for my Lenten blog, I looked in the Presbyterian Hymnal and picked hymn #368, I’ve Got Peace Like a River . It is an African-American Spiritual whose verses can be summarized like this.

I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.
I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul.
I’ve got love like an ocean in my soul.

African-American Spirituals are often written in coded language. I wonder if the words in this spiritual are talking about God who is flowing continuously through our soul, who is as refreshing as a cool fountain and as wide and expansive as an ocean.

Even though I am fond of the imagery suggested by the original words, I decided to insert my own water images to bring this spiritual to life for me in another way. With my changes, the hymn looks like this.

I’ve got peace like a hot tub in my soul.
I’ve got joy like a shower in my soul.
I’ve got love like a warm spring in my soul.

I know that I can get totally outside of myself and feel relaxed when I am soaking alone in a hot tub. I feel at peace and at one with the world. I get that amazing feeling of being one with God as well.

I feel joy, like being in a state of nirvana when I am taking a shower and letting the hot water flow down over my body. As a good earth keeper, I know I should keep the shower short but taking a hot shower is a spiritual experience for me. I feel joy in living and joy in God.

When I bathed in Radium Hot Springs in Canada in 1981, I felt warm and comfortable all over, a physical state I rarely experience in chilly Rochester. I felt that life was good, that God is love and that I never wanted to leave the warm springs.

Of course staying in a hot tub or shower or warm springs is not practical and it is not where the world is. Dinner needs to be prepared, a meeting or follow up work from a meeting needs my attention, the hungry need to be fed at the Dining Room Ministry and a letter needs to be written to my legislator to lobby for laws that assure equal treatment for all persons. Yet basking in the warmth of the hot water cleanses and refreshes both my body and my soul so I that am ready to reenter the world and get back to God’s work.

God, you are our Source of Life and our Renewal. You flow continuously through our souls like a river. You are as refreshing as a cool fountain and as wide and expansive as an ocean. You are peace like a good soak in a hot tub, joy like the feeling of an ever flowing shower and love that embraces us like the gentle water in the warm springs. Thank you, God.