After a week of rain last week I was not surprised to see the high water level of the Maumee River as I crossed the Waterville Bridge. To be honest, it was frightening to look at the raging and rushing river as I crossed a bridge that is soon to be replaced!

            By river standards, the Maumee River is not exceedingly long. It begins in Fort Wayne, Indiana and flows into the bay of Lake Erie some 137 miles later. What strikes me is that the water we see here is the result of many smaller rivers and streams that empty into the Maumee. Consequently, even if it doesn’t rain much around here, the river can still rise as a result of rain in Indiana, northwest Ohio (both the St. Mary’s River and the St. Joseph River, which form the Maumee in Fort Wayne, originate in Ohio – thus the water flows west in order to flow east again), and other areas southwest of here.

            I grew up near the Little Auglaize, which flows into the (big) Auglaize, which meets the Maumee in the city of Defiance. I sometimes wonder if I were to throw stick into the river back at Ottoville, how long it would take for that stick to show up at the Maumee Bay.

            Water flows, meets more water, and continues its course. What we experience is often the result of what is happening elsewhere. Sort of reminds you of human nature and the ‘flow’ of attitudes and behaviors. No one lives on an island, certainly not on the islands of the Maumee River.

“Have among yourselves the same attitude

 that is also yours in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 2:5