A Channel Through the Mountains

Journal 2005 10 28
A Channel Through the Mountains

“…wind blew hard accompanied with rain all the evening, our Situation not a verry good one for an encampment, but Such as it is we are obliged to put up with, the harbor is a Safe one, we encamped on the Sand wet and disagreeable.”

Strong winds coming up the gorge of the Columbia blew so hard it impeded the progress of the Corps and the men retreated to a safe harbor to wait out calmer weather. Rains came and brought the brand of weather we are all too familiar with in the Great Northwest.

The geology of the Columbia begs explanation as the Corps of Discovery is about to leave the basaltic plains of Eastern Washington and pass through the Columbia River Gorge to the Pacific. Most rivers originate in the heights of the mountains and run to the sea. The Columbia originates in the Canadian Rockies, runs south through the high basalt plains of Eastern Washington, is fed by the Snake River and makes a big round turn west at the Oregon border where it empties into the Pacific Ocean completing its one thousand two hundred forty three mile journey. What sets the Columbia apart from most rivers is what happens when it reaches the Cascade Mountain range. It cuts through the Cascade Mountains on its tumble to the sea.

Geologists call it an antecedent river, meaning that it existed before the mountains began to be pushed up as the Pacific Plate passed under the Continental Plate. Biblical creationists contend, and I agree, that all of the canyons, coulees and the channel the Columbia flows through are best attributed to the receding waters of the Great Flood of Noah in the Bible. Most geologists now agree that the Grand Canyon must have been the work of a great catastrophic flow of water and not the incremental work of millions of years of minute erosion. Lewis and Clark did not see Dry Falls, which is near Ephrata, WA. Nor did they see the great coulees that we drive through between Wenatchee and Waterville. I can picture Meriwether Lewis’ description of this massive empty river channel. The speculations of the amount of water are really mind bending.

We see here again an example of the natural proving the spiritual. Secular geologists date the rush of water across the plateau at ten to fifteen thousand years ago. More consistent with the time of the Great Flood than any other historical record. (Although Biblical historians would date the great flood at five to six thousand years ago.) I’ll take the biblical account.

So the Columbia followed a course through the mountains set in place millennia before by God. Lewis and Clark were simply discovering what God has already put in place. And that is our record for today. Are you looking at your Christian life as a series of self-centered lessons for your fulfillment, or are you seeing him lead and teach you as you are walking out your destiny in lifelong “proceeding on” to Mt. Zion? He has set adventure before each of us for the fullness of joy and the praise of His Glory as we build His Kingdom here on earth. Look for what God has set before you. Today, it was a hindering wind that restrained river travel and caused the men to seek safe harbor. Is a strong wind blowing, hindering your progress? Seek safe harbor even if it means a miserable camp on a sandy beach. He may have laid down the sand for that beach thousands of years before just for your benefit and His glory on this day. Proceed on!