Where or what is the Source of your Spring?

In our readings for today, the psalmist says his heart is stirring with a noble song, and St. John begins the story of his revealing dream in the book of Revelation. In the gospel, St. Matthew tells the story of the importance of good soil for the growth of good seed. And in the Old Testament, the Jewish people struggle to rebuild the temple despite what nosey, spiteful neighbors have to say...so how does this all fit into searching for the sources of our springs? Perhaps the message is that when we know our source, then what we do and what we say and even what we dream come from the real essence of who we are - beloved of God.

The St. Johns River is the longest river in Florida flowing 310 miles north from Indian River County, fed by springs and rainwater. Swimming in the springs is a popular activity along the river as is diving down to see the source of the spring where the water comes bubbling out of the ground. The average temperature of the spring water is 70 degrees year round, so if you are swimming in the winter the water is warm and in the summer it is cold.

I had a dream last night...that I was with a relatively sophisticated group of women who were searching for the source of a spring in Northeast Florida. They had learned that it was near St. Margaret's Church in Hibernia, the church where I grew up. So I thought I would go along with them to see it. We were all looking out of the windows of the church searching for the bubbles, when one of the women said here it is...and there under one of the pews, the water was bubbling up out of the old hardwood floor. Nobody seemed particularly alarmed, just thankful that we had found what we were looking for.

Dreams mean different things to different people, even our own dreams. A wise woman once told me that when she hears other people's dreams, she says, "If it were my dream, I would think..." such and such. I share my dream with you in hopes that it might lead us all to think about the sources of our springs...the places from which the real truths in our lives come, the places we hear God calling us to be the truest forms of who we are, God's beloveds. Sometimes it means diving down deep!

This is a picture of Silver Glen Springs, my favorite spring in Florida. It is where I first dove down and found the source. St. Margaret's Hibernia was another place I found the Source!