There Is a River is a series of 271 short studies on the Bible and water. It's origins are in the author's first hand experience with thirst. Through seven decades of life, he had little reason to think on the subject. Few Westerners do. Notable exceptions are overheated, underhydrated summer hikers on the mountains of the Pacific Crest Trail. Larry Carlson joined those ranks in the summer of 2013.
Distances between PCT water holes are often fifteen to twenty miles. After hauling a few gallons of H20 aboard back and hip over some such distance, a light suddenly switched on. Ancient and current dwellers in arid lands get the concept of water as the precious but stingy elixir of life it is. Moderns who activate gushers with the twist of a faucet do not. We understand springs, wells, and cisterns no better than we comprehend yokes, yeast, sowing, and shepherding. Yet the inspired Word of God swims (pun intended) in archaic images demanding comprehension.
There Is a River navigates Genesis through Revelation as follows:
Water: Creation to Condemnation (in the beginning through the fall of man)
Water: Desolation to Consolation (Noah through Joseph)
Water: Serenity to Tempest (Job, poetry, Prophets)
Water: Slavery to Salvation (Moses through crucifixion of Jesus Christ)
Water: Resurrection through Revelation (the empty tomb through judgment and eternity)
About the Author: Larry Carlson is a retired high school history teacher, Western Reformed Seminary graduate, and pastor in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. His previous writing, Presbies on the Hill, traces Presbyterian History in the Gig Harbor, Washington area from 1888 through 1994. There is a River owes its origins to his musings on water while hiking one thousand miles with his wife Maudie on the Pacific Crest Trail.
