The Cross In The Dark

Quite honestly I didn't even know what I was looking at the first five minutes as I stood standing there in the waste deep water. It had been a beautiful day at the creek, not too hot with a cool breeze. Honestly I only had one thing on my mind, how long until I reeled in the next big fish. The current was strong in some places so as I started making out the shape, I had to be careful as to not slip on the well worn rocks below. What first caught my attention was light bouncing off silver along the bank. After I got a little closer I realized I was staring out at a cross that had been planted just beyond the edge of the water and surrounding it were a half dozen solar lights.

I couldn't make out the names scratched across it, but my imagination quickly pieced together the story of a swimmer, possible a kayaker, who was caught after a rain storm which caused the levels of the creek to rise much higher than I was currently fishing in. Gripped by the raging waters the worst case scenario was the very thing that happened on that sad day. Distraught and looking for a way to remember their friend, their brother in Christ, their son; the family erected the cross and placed it at the very site of the place where every one's life changed.

It's been three weeks since I saw that cross along the banks of Cypress creek and still the image is burned into my mind. Miles from the nearest person. Barely noticeable by anyone who is not looking for it, that cross stands for months, years, decades as a silent reminder of that great loss of someone so many held so dear to their hearts. When I think about that cross I think about what it must be like to be standing there at just the right time. The sun going down over the horizon. The breeze swaying the trees back and forth. The endless sound of the creek passing by as if time itself were making noise as it slipped away. As darkness slowly creeps up all around that cross and nighttime covers the forest, I imagine what must be a truly miraculous sight as those half dozen solar lights switch on glorifying that lost life and reminding the heavens "We will never forget that great and powerful sacrifice!"