The ice pond

With the coming of winter, I was remembering the frozen ponds we skated on decades ago in Rhode Island, and also how trucks crossed over Lake Ladoga in '42 to bring food to starving Leningrad under siege.

Then my mind took flight, and I imagined a frozen lake that was the center of a city's life. The fame of the pond spread far and wide because its ice was strong enough to carry trucks from shore to shore. At least it was said that had occurred before we all were born.

The history of the lake was taught in school, and the children sang songs in its praise: "Was there ever such a lake as this?" There were parades and feast days in its celebration. The townsfolk came together and gave homage to the lake so strong that it could hold a fleet of vehicles.

Funny thing was, no one ever actually tried to drive a truck across that hardened water. Now and then an individual would venture out on hands and knees a yard or two, and all thought he was brave. After a while, some questioned whether the stories of the lake were true, there being no testimonies of living persons putting their full weight on the ice and proving its reliability.

God bids us venture out on Him. "Test me in this and see," he says. What a blessing I miss-and withhold from others in the town-when I hold back at the shore in fear and don't embrace the promises he made so we could stand on them.