TITBIT No.1 - WATERSHEDS

THE LATE FRANCIS SCHAEFFER, well-known twentieth century Christian theologian and philosopher, uses a very striking illustration in his book, The Great Evangelical Disaster. He tells about a ridge of rock high up in the mountains near his home in Switzerland. On either side of this ridge runs a deep valley. In winter, as everyone knows, the Alps receive heavy snow falls. And on such occasions these particular rocks are completely covered by an unbroken bank of snow. The impression of unity is, however, an illusion. Why? Simply because the ridge beneath the surface acts as a divide, a watershed. One portion of snow, when melted, would flow into the one valley, whilst snow right next to it, would end up in the other valley.

But this is not all. What makes this watershed all the more striking, is the fact that the one valley is part of the Rhine River's catchment area. It means that water running down that side of the mountain flows through Germany and eventually ends up in the cold waters of the North Sea. But snow melting less than a metre away, runs down the other side of the mountain. It then flows into Lake Geneva, and from there down the Rhone Valley through France. Ultimately it enters the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea, more than a thousand kilometres from the Rhine's mouth.
This is what a watershed does. It cuts, it divides. Watersheds determine destinies!
All of us have our watershed moments. We can look back through the passages of our personal history and clearly see a number of destiny determining experiences. And usually these turning points come unannounced. It is only in retrospect that you can recognize them for what they were. Many years ago, on a very ordinary night, I was introduced to a not so ordinary girl. Eighteen months later she would become my wife, and in ensuing years the mother of my four daughters.
Some things in our lives have virtually no long-term consequences. But then there are those watershed actions, decisions, encounters, priorities, convictions. And, surely, no watersheds can be more critical than those determining our eternal destiny.

Nico van der Walt