Do You See What I See?

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I grew up along the Cumberland River. Sometimes we drove across the beautiful and narrow iron bridge to eat “across the river” at the Boat Dock. “Across the river” was a phrase I heard often. With modern freeways, we hardly know we have crossed a river sometimes, but there was a time when something being on the other side of a river was a big deal.While we spoke of “up on the ridge” and “on Stratton Hill,” “across the river” was the descriptive phrase we heard most often about our town geography.

The famous fried catfish at the Boat Dock in little Ashland City drew people from miles around. I still compare restaurant hush puppies to the ones I ate at the Boat Dock as a girl. I have rarely tasted one that came close to being that delicious. I sometimes saw barges float slowly up and down the river carrying heavy loads. I saw motorboats speed by. Sometimes I got to ride on the river myself in my Great-Uncle Jack’s boat.

I recently went to the restaurant which replaced the Boat Dock many years ago and decided to take some pictures. This is Sydney’s Bluff, which I grew up seeing from the town side of the river.

The next morning I went to a park on the town side to take more photographs. I was surprised to find the early morning fog so thick that the bluff wasn’t visible at all and the river itself was only barely so. However, the fog quickly began to lift.

In each photograph the bluff became more and more visible.

Sometimes time changes the way we see things. I wonder how many things we would see differently, if we just waited for the fog to lift. Isn’t it wonderful that nothing can be hidden from God’s view? He can look through anything to see what is real. We can’t do that, but we can rest in the One Who can.

The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
From His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
He who fashions the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.
Psalm 33:13-15, NASB 

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