Palomino

And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

                                                                                    Mark 10:29-30

It rained here all day long.  It rained hard here all day long.  As I came over the bridge on the way home from work, The Lititz Run raced past beneath me pregnant and pulsing.  How long ago was it that my son and I waited here along the bank for the hatchery truck to arrive?  He was a cub scout and his pack had volunteered that April to help stock the stream for first day of trout.  The truck had eventually pulled in and we began off-loading fish and hauling them down to the run in white, five-gallon buckets.  Most of the fish were rainbow trout, but like precious nuggets, every once in awhile was interspersed a gorgeous, orange palomino.  Zach and I got the first one of these, and it was huge.  I can still remember how excited he was to see it swirling in the bucket and flicking its mighty tail.  "Wow Dad, what a fish!"  He could barely tote the bucket down the bank, but, with water sloshing and all,  he made it.  Once at the water's edge, we looked at each other and smiled with wonder.  Not wanting to let the moment or the fish slip away too quickly, we hesitated; but seconds later, Zach tipped the bucket and tumbled our beauty into the creek.  Like an orange torpedo, he zipped out a few feet and then held his place, master of the current.  Like a beacon, he shone there and, even after he swam on, we were able to follow his progress.  Finally, he shot out further and dropped into a hole and faded from our view, diasappearing into the murky depths.  Some lucky angler probably caught him the next day, but we never saw him again.

My cub scout goes away to college this fall.  Lord of beauty and variety, will there be magnificent fish and trout streams in heaven?  Will we have this moment back or was it a once and done deal?  I praise You for Your great glory!

Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.

                                                                                    Psalm 88:10