I like water fountains because they simulate renewal.

Fountains get water from a central source, and constantly recirculate it by pushing it through with an electrical or solar pump.

The mechanics are simple.

The effect is magical.

It creates the illusion of perpetual flow from a finite supply.

So if you stand and watch it, you are seeing the same water reappear.

And if you stand in it, the same water pours on you.

The very fact, however, that you can do so indefinitely, creates not just an illusion, but an experiential reality.

If I can stand in water that continuously cascades down on me, then to me, it is perpetual flow.

And in this experience I can see something of my place in the world.

My unique point of entry into a vast cosmos, before an unchanging God, creates a unique moment in time. And while creation goes through cycles I cannot hope to change, the moment is new to me, and now new with me.

The Bible presents this paradox in two passages.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV says

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

The concept both comforts and confounds me. It mitigates worry because today’s dangers are no greater than yesterday’s. It also frustrates creativity, because every time I think I’ve done something original, I can probably find someone who has done it before.

The question is, from my particular vantage point, can I lay claim to an original moment?

Is my experience more than just the recycled past?

And I would say yes.

It’s like the television ad campaign for reruns from years ago: “It’s New to You,” which is a great way to rebrand leftovers.

It’s also true.

If God has put me here, then God will meet me here.

And He makes all thigns new.

In Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV), speaking to a nation in exile that could easily view life through the lens of loss, God says

¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

God does new things.

We are not limited to the level of our past.

We are not confined to the caliber of our origins.

We are not condemned to be identified by our greatest losses.

Rather, in the words of Lamentations 3:23, every day God’s mercies are new.

And so this day is a new opportunity for me.

This moment, that to the seasoned and cynical, might look like a rerun is actually something entirely new, a unique chapter of a unique story.

And all I have to do is read it.

The waterfall reminds me of my unique place in space and time.

It shows me that my subjective experience may be different than the objective reality.

And it compels me to embrace this moment, to let the water engulf me, to bask and bathe, and be renewed.

The revival is not in the water.

But I am in the water.

And today, it’s all that matters.

(Photo Credit: Gabriel Peter)

Works Cited

by fountains, Posted, and Fountains. “10 Things You Should Know about Outdoor Fountains.” Luxury Fountains for Your Home, Garden or Business, 20 Apr. 2021, https://fountains.com/10-thing....