Deep Enough to Swim In

     Majorie Douglas was the premier advocate for the Kissimmee River Basin and Florida Everglades.

     The sugar industry in “the glades” area has managed to destroy much of what was once a vast array of grassy wetlands, canals, and every conceivable kind of wildlife. Harsh chemical wastes, to include mercury and fertilizers, have reduced the size, and viability of animal and plant life, alike. The alligator and panther populations have dwindled rapidly, and a nuisance tree, the Brazilian Pepper, has overrun thousands of acres to create a virtual wasteland.

     Years ago, a decision was made to change the size and flow of the Kissimmee River, and the Army Corps of Engineers was true to its appointed task. They did a wonderful job of it, in terms of following the written plan. However, the people of Florida gleaned a less than wonderful result.

     Marjorie agonized over the plight of her beloved river and everglades. She was a tireless advocate for the restoration of these two magnificent creations of nature. Her mission took her to, among other places, Tallahassee and Washington. She met with State and United States officials, including then Governor Graham, and President Clinton. She authored several books on the subject of the revitalization of the wetlands of Florida.

     There’s just something about adjectives, especially when they are wholly accurate. And Marjorie Douglas used them well, as she described the flora and fauna of her lost wetlands. Her words were as contagious as the flu.

     On one particular outing, Governor Graham and Ms. Douglas surveyed the damage to one small section of the Kissimmee River. Graham was heard to say to the grand old dame…

     “Majorie, when we come back here next year, it will be entirely different. The water will run dark and deep. The cattails will grow tall and wild. And the fish will be here in abundance.” He might as well have been a Prophet.

     Since they met together the next year, and it was exactly as he predicted.

     The river was magnificent. What had been a shallow, and almost stagnant channel was now a swift flowing river. The rushes had come back with a flourish, and birds of every size and color floated lazily on the summer breezes.

Fishermen dotted the banks, and as they laughed and shouted, they pulled in speckled perch and huge catfish.

     Marjorie Douglas served as the official advocate for the restoration of the Florida wetlands, ‘til she reached the unlikely age of 100. Afterwards, she continued to be “a voice” in the wetlands movement ‘til her death.

     I think we have all been guilty of the kind of “renovation” that results in spiritual disaster. Those deep, flowing rivers that whelm up in our soul become blocked by “the stuff of life.” Those clear, refreshing springs of water become polluted by chemical wastes of our own making. We stagnate. We languish. Not so very different than the wetlands disaster.

    Our ministry and our personal relationship with The Creator suffer. The very magnificence of God’s creation suddenly seems less than Vital, and His still small voice becomes so much smaller and stiller. The river runs slower, and its marvelous depths dry up.

    The Prophet Jeremiah’s admonition to the people of Israel is uncomfortably familiar.

“Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; Be very desolate says the Lord.

For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of Living Waters, and (they have) hewn themselves cisterns-broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (2:12-13, KJV)

     I hope I may always found advocating “a spiritual wetlands project.” For we are given the marvelous opportunity to restore the broken cisterns in ours,’ and others’ lives, and to dig streams “deep enough to swim in.”

 By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "Musings"