We haven't been on a houseboat for a few months now, and I have missed this very intimate contact with the river.
There is nothing quite like the leisurely pace of a houseboat. It's a different gear, the quiet thrum, thrum of an unhurried pace, something seldom experienced in this rushing world of ours, and we love it.

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There are many things I enjoy about being on the river, but my favorite by far is the never-ending mystery of reflections and I love to look down into these watery worlds, my mind roaming freely between seeing and imagining, between the real and the virtual. Sometimes the water is so still that I can hardly tell whether what I see is an image or the real thing.
And I am reminded that as I navigate the river of life the reflection of my ‘houseboat’ can be sharp and easily recognized, or a surreal parody of it because something is disturbing the surface of the water.

Of course, an earthly houseboat has no say in the sharpness of its reflection since it is always at the mercy of the elements. But if I may use this as a metaphor for the life of a child of God, I see that my vessel’s image on the river of life can always be real and sharp, because “I am no longer immature like a child. I am not tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. I am not influenced when people try to trick me with lies so clever they sound like the truth.” (Eph.4:14)

In short, I sail this houseboat of mine in the Holy Spirit’s weather system and I am at peace.

And if someone should lean out over the water and gaze into my reflection, I pray that there in the depths will be a reflection of my Lord Jesus, clear and sharp and easily recognized!