Chapter 49
One More River to Cross
One of my favorite verses from the Bible is: "I am come that ye may have life and that ye may have it more abundantly" (Jno. 10:10). Abundant living involves so much. Its scope reaches beyond the limits of time and space. It leads to eternal life. We have been taught that we will spend this everlasting life in the "land of endless day" "where the gates swing outward never." We older people speak of this transfer to eternal life as crossing over the river. In this mortal life we cross rivers, mostly, by building bridges.All of my life I have been interested in bridges. Our forefathers built the rustic and well-planned historic covered bridges. Many of these no longer exist. However in October, 1967, we joined a bus tour from Greencroft Center in Goshen, Indiana, which made a two-day trip to Parke County, Indiana, and the Covered Bridge Festival. There were several attractions along the way where we stopped briefly, but our goal was the Covered Bridge Tour, which we took on the second day. There were thirteen bridges in the tour we chose. Seven of these were still in use and we drove through six of the seven. The remaining six were not in use or could be used only by pedestrains (sic) or bicycles. This senic (sic) trip was about forty miles and zig-zagged back and forth through the county. The time that remained was spent at the Rockfield County fair. To me, there was nothing as interesting at the fair as the covered bridges.
I still am interested in bridges. In my four score and seven years, as we traveled through much of the United States, I have seen quite a few. In San Francisco we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge which is the number one man-made tourist attraction in the United States. San Francisco boasts of also having the Oakland Bay Bridge; we have crossed it too. We walked across the extremely high bridge spanning the Royal Gorge near Canon City, Colorado. We have gone by bus over the suspension bridge at Niagara Falls in New York. We have crossed the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. We have driven over the long string of bridges connecting those small islands and Key West to the mainland. South of St. Petersburg, Florida, we traveled the thirteen-mile bridge to Brandenton. At San Diego, California, we have the long and very high Coronado Bridge that replaced the ferry a few years ago. We have crossed the Mississippi River at seven different points where long bridges serve the traveling public. We have also crossed many other interesting but less historical briges (sic). It is also true that we need and depend on many ordinary everyday bridges that help us to easier and safer traveling.
Many of us know the story of the old man traveling a lonely highway. As the evening approached, he reached and crossed a deep and wide chasm. When he had crossed safely he turned and built a bridge there. A fellow traveler asked why he was doing this. He said, "You never will pass this way again."
The old man replied that he knew a youth was following. The old man feared the youth would not be able to cross as he had. He said. "Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!" We, too, need to show our concern for our fellow travelers, particularly those who are weaker than we.
There is a song "There's One More River to Cross." That is the one between time and eternity. This is spanned by the Bridge of Grace. Through faith we see it and approach it with confidence. Yes, there's one more river for you, for me, for everyone to cross. Then there will he victory and joy forever-"When They Ring Those Golden Bells For You and Me.
"There's a land beyond the river,
That we call the sweet forever,
And we only reach that shore by faith's decree;
One by one we'll gain the portals,
There to dwell with the immortals,
When they ring those golden bells for you and me."
Chorus:
"Don't you hear the hells now ringing?
Don't you hear the angels singing?
'Tis the glory hallelujah Jubilee.
In that far-off sweet forever,
When they ring those golden bells for you and me."