The Roar of a Waterfall

There’s a distinct sound reverberating across Canada today. It's Election Day.

After weeks of political speeches, debates, promises and threats, millions of voters are going to get the last word. It’s called democracy – a flawed system to be sure, but better than most other ways of governing in our world.

In the days of imperial Rome, John, the last-surviving disciple of Jesus, was a political prisoner. The emperor and his regime feared the truth about Jesus and tried to silence John’s witness by exiling him to their version of Alcatraz or Robben Island, the Aegean island prison of Patmos.

A voice like a trumpet shattered John’s solitary reverie one day. Whirling around to see who was speaking, John was stunned speechless by a vision of Christ and by the sound of his voice – which thundered like ocean waves or the roar of a cataract.

Nothing quite rivals the sight and sound of Niagara Falls. It is the most powerful waterfall in North America and among the most impressive in the world. Four million cubic feet of water plunge over the crest line every minute – more than 6 million in high flow.  Yet, according to the World Waterfalls Database, Niagara is only the tenth largest waterfall in the world by volume. Combine numbers one and two, both on the Congo River, and thirty-two Niagaras still don’t equal their volume.

Jesus was noted for the unparalleled wisdom and authority of his teaching. His words were gracious and life-giving; his questions were powerful and probing. With a single word, he silenced storms, expelled demons and raised the dead. When he refused to answer his accusers, his silence was eloquent and deafening. No wonder John describes the voice of Jesus like a thundering waterfall.

When John heard that voice on his own personal Alcatraz, he was terrified, but Jesus reassured him and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the Living One. I was dead but now I am alive forever more.”

Above the din of the world’s rhetoric and propaganda, above the seductive clamor of advertising and the noise of our own fears, the words of Jesus still speak today with truth and authority. Disregard him - and you might as well try to out-shout a waterfall. But he still invites us to choose - to listen or to ignore him, to cast our own vote. As Jesus regularly said, “anyone with ears to hear, should listen – really listen.” Matthew 13:9.

Photo Sources:
Depot Creek Falls
Niagara Falls
Yosemite Falls