Why do we wait to learn some of the most interesting and useful things
until later in life? Where was this supply of needed information when I could
have used it, or at least benefitted from it? For instance I lived a few blocks
off Route 66 in 1975-76, Central NE in Albuquerque, in a time when no one cared,
or could care less. Today if I had paid attention, I could publish my memoirs
of “Life Along Route 66,” available in paperback or Kindle. “Missed by that
much,” as Agent 86 used to say. But moving to New Mexico, when my Jersey
friends wondered if they spoke English, lived in tepees, and had electricity, I
remembered stories of Pecos Bill and the Rio Grande River from elementary school
songs. I imagined old cow hands on the Rio Grande, campfires with coyotes
howling, and a rushing river based on its name, Big River. Maybe I was safer
sticking to future Route 66 culture....as the Rio Grande in many places is
anything but grand. Long, but not so wide in places. Some places you can walk
across it, where only a few miles south it is wide and deep. But only a few
miles north, near Taos, it runs through a deep gorge, with only a bridge across
it. Not there when the pioneers and first settles arrived, they had to step
back and wonder what to do next. I can only imagine after hundreds of miles
across prairies and then high desert, how welcoming a river would have been.
But only to find no way to get down to it, or even across it. Giving a new
meaning to end of the trail.
From the north you can see it from the Sangre de Cristo mountains, the
Blood of Christ, from the south no way until you are upon. No one pioneered
from the west, so it was up to the eastern folk to deal with it. Just a big
hole in the ground stopping them and leaving a mark for their forward progress,
how many headed north into the mountains, or were smart enough to head south for
a few days and walk across. Today a bridge crosses it, a few seconds at 65mph,
with the locals selling trinkets and other junk, a sort of Grand Canyon of New
Mexico if you will, been there, done that, and have the photos to prove it, no
t-shirts available at the time. But thanks to the Rio Grande Gorge and the
bridge across it, today we can see just how Grande the Rio here is, and to tell
others, no AAA 175 years ago.
So the Rio Grande has many faces along its route, with a green belt
caressing it as it flows through Albuquerque. From atop The Crest, or from Juan
Tabo Campground, you can see a strip of lush green trees as the river goes
through town, then fades away again to the north or south. A view that made
quite an impact on this Jersey transplant, and new Christian. Psalm One was an
early teaching, and it tells of a tree planted by water who in its season bears
fruit. Whose leaf shall never wither. The water being the holy spirit, the
fruit is of the spirit, not self induced or taught. Spirit based, only the
spirit can bear spiritual fruit. I often think of the Rio Grande here, what a
beautiful example of how the spirit gives life to an otherwise desert area, and
how when we are in the spirit, we will also. Maybe it explains how some come so
close to the water but never go in, or see a gorge and throw up their hands in
disgust. Some will try a detour or stay put, while others are drawn by the
spirit to it. Paul tells us “God is not mocked, whoever sows seeds to please
the flesh will reap destruction, but whoever sows seeds to the spirit will reap
eternal life.” We don’t have to wait until we die to experience either one, for
Jesus promised on earth as it is in heaven right now. We can have all the joy
of the spirit right now, or just enjoy getting by from one disaster to the
next.
So I have learned to gorge on the Rio Grande, or really the spirit. I
enjoy being loved, having joy and peace, being good and kind, seeing Jesus in my
long suffering, and learning self control is based upon my choices. But it all
points to Jesus. Maybe that is why New Mexico is called “the Land of
Enchantment.” From the Sangre de Cristos to the Rio Grande, to the
indescribable colors in the sunset, you can see where God set his grace on
thee. All roads lead to somewhere, the bridge across the Rio Grande Gorge is
150 miles or more from any freeway. Not on the way to anything, unless you know
where you are going. Do you know where you are going when you die? Are you
sure?
Water never looked so appealing as in a desert. In a desert now, need a
drink from God? His water is available, just like it was to the woman at the
well, so we can thirst no more. But it is up to you, what do you do when
confronted by the holy spirit? Take a ride up tot Crest in Albuquerque and see
things from above as God does. Sometimes things are so close we miss them, it
just takes a different perspective. Only available via the holy spirit, and at
prices you can afford. For like Abraham, we are just sojourners, travelers on
this earth for a short while. God gave him a choice just like he does us.
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan in a low spot, but the spirit rose up in the
form of a dove. Don’t let a gap in your walk with Christ deter you, take in the
living water of his spirit today. For just like the disciples in the boat in
the midst of the storm, they made it to the other side just as Jesus said they
would. And to that I say “yippie yi oh kayah!”
No need to wait for the book to come out either....and of course Route 66
crosses over it! New Mexico, it ain’t new and it ain’t Mexico.
love with compassion,
MIkematthew25biker.blogspot.com