My favorite spots

Dr. Knox Herndon
Pastor

There are within my minds eye several “spots” that are deep within my soul that I retreat to as often as I can. I would have to say that first and foremost I deeply love being at the front of our little church receiving someone into the Kingdom of God on any given Sunday. I truly love it when someone comes to the point in life where he or she sincerely wants to receive Christ and follow that up with baptism and church membership. That is a true Joy.

Secondly there are the times when my wife and I go to our open covered back porch early in the morning while still in our PJ’s, bath robes and warm slippers, and sip steaming cups of Orange Cappuccino with Bandit our spoiled royal dogÊ having his morning ear massage beside our rockingÊ chair.

Thirdly under this same covered back porch my third most favorite time is when I can slow down my family long enough to get my wonderful son Robbie and our daughter Nikki there with us to grill family hamburgers.

Fourthly, there is a Godly phenomenon at a Godly spot that happens this weekend in Alaska every year from probably the beginning of time. It is the return of the salmon to an obscure spot to an obscure stream named “Clear Water Delta.” This spot is one of the most uninhabitable places on the planet. It is right outside of Fort Greely Alaska where the US Army used to train our Arctic soldiers to fight and survive in low subzero temperatures. American Industry would also test equipment there for cold weather uses.

At this particular weekend the temperatures will be about 65-75 degrees and they will be blue bird days with waves of geese overhead in their time honored vee formations heading south for the winter that is sure to come. The last leaves on the beautiful White Birch trees will be a blaze orange and yellow as they float down the stream and clog your intake jets on your boat motor.

Clear Water Delta has water as clear as your home tap and you can see every fish, rock, and lost fishing lure on the sandy bottom. Herein lies the romance of this particular spot on the globe. First of all it only happens this way on this particular weekend because it is the “early run” of these gorgeous 6-15 pound silver salmon. If one waits until the next week, the snows can get you. You would catch fish but possibly be miserable in the process. This is a science stay with me here.

We launch our boat at the clear water lodge boat ramp and go upstream to a secret spot that has a very large beaver dam with several beavers living there. We anchor the boat and go to the highest spot on the boat to spot fish. Here is where the two plane fares, rental car, license fees, and months of planning and prayer pays off. You will see one of God’s great loves for mankind unfold before your very eyes. Since this is the “early run” they are coming in at about three to seven at a time. They move in as a silent patrol one behind the other. At the moment of spotting the fish, a special lure we call “the Alaska credit card” is thrown and slowly pulled past the patrol. At any given moment one will leave their compass heading and began following the “pixie lure.” Since you are watching all this through the beautiful clear water, the sheer excitement often drives you to literally jerk the pixie out of their mouths with a scream of “did YOU SEE THAT!!” This very weekend my dear friend Bill O’Halloran of North Country River Charters will be enjoying this “spot” for all of us. God bless you Bill, we will all send our home addresses for the 100 pounds of salmon you will be sending each of us!

Imagine that a tiny one inch salmon which is hatched in this particular obscure spot on the planet is born with one mission in mind and that is to make it several thousand miles to the ocean and back. Scientist’s are still scratching their heads as they attempt to explain it. After that several thousand mile perilous trip south to the ocean, something strange happens to them. All of a sudden in two to three years God says to them, “it’s time.” At this moment in history, they turn their head and hearts toward “home.” They then swim back from the ocean and swim along the coast until they find not “A” river, but “THE” river they came from and begin the several thousand mile trip upstream to the very spot they were born, spawn and die there. Somehow this speaks to me deep within my soul and it’s not just about fishing because I can catch fish a lot of places. This is about God’s love for mankind and His wonderful “order of things.” I so strongly believe this that one day when we can see Him face to face and can talk to Him that many of His answers will be right out of the Holy Scriptures just like we have it today.

Where does this leave all of us today? It leaves us ‘longing for those “spots” and moments of history that speak to us.

St. Thomas Aquinas an ancient Theologian said that within all of us there is a “return to God seed deep within our souls” that we are born with. It is like the salmon who return in their life quest to the spot where they were born, so we have this gnawing inside to “return to God.” This I believe.Ê

What we must do is to enjoy these “spots” of life as often as humanly possible, and most of all the “spot” at the feet of Jesus.

Check out our new website at: www.hishousecommunitychurch.com

Dr. Knox Herndon is the pastor of “His House Community Church” (SBC) Rev. Greg Mausz is Sr. Assoc. Dr. Lydia Herndon is the Sunday School Superintendent, Bible study coordinator and teacher. The church has moved to the new location just below Fayetteville, on GA. Highway 85. As you leave Fayetteville going South on Highway 85, you cross Highway 16, at the Senoia intersection. It is a mile on the right just below the fire station. If you are not in a church, come visit us. Church office and Prayer line (770)-719-2365Ê E-Mail KHERN2365@aol.com