Geo-Thermal Springs

Among the many wonders of Icelandic waters I experienced the past ten days – glaciers, geysers, waterfalls, rivers and ocean, the one that caught me most by surprise was the geo-thermal springs.

It is a strange sight to behold. Hiking in the hills and seeing steam rising from a hole in the ground. A pungent sulphurous odor pours out with the steam. A few meters away, another steam vent, and on up the mountain, pools of bubbling boiling water or mud – and three kilometers further up the chilly valley between mountains, the reward of a hot-water river with pools that invite leisurely bathing.

I didn’t need a second call. I plunged in and luxuriated in a stream perfectly suited to human body temperature. I recited at full volume the words of Psalm 145 - I exalt you my God the King I will praise your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. His greatness no one can fathom.

Geo-thermal springs are a gift from the center of the earth. Heat created by gravitational pressure in the earth’s mantle core rises through seams or vents in the rock and warms underground water. In volcanic areas like Iceland, situated on the margin between two tectonic plates – the Eurasian and the North American, molten rock comes closer to the surface and hot springs are more plentiful.

Icelanders use this free supply of hot water for many purposes - generating electricity, heating homes, washing clothes, baking bread, pasteurizing milk. Minerals in the mud are therapeutic for the skin – the Blue Lagoon Spa is Iceland’s most popular tourist attraction. Thermophilic bacteria that thrive in hot water are used in bio-tech research and in the manufacture of anti-biotics. All this is a gift from a Creator who hasn't finished his creative work.

You’ll find only one reference to hot springs in the Bible. In Genesis 36:24, someone was searching for a herd of donkeys that went missing. Scouring the desert hills for the lost animals, he stumbled across some hot springs. I think that’s often how it works with the gifts and grace of God. You’re busy doing something else – or searching for a missing some thing or other - and suddenly right under your feet, a gift you never expected, a warm stream to bathe in.