If you go down 441 into Broward, and immediately turn right on Loxahatchee Road, and drive and drive and drive, you eventually get to the end of the world.  OK, it’s not the end of the world, but it is the end of civilization.  It’s not as cool a demarcation of the end of the world as the scene in “The God’s Must Be Crazy,” but it is worth a drive out there.  (OK, if you haven’t seen “The God’s Must Be Crazy,” look for it, watch it…it’s a wonderful cute story, and I won’t spoil it for you, but when this innocent bushman goes looking for the end of the world, he actually finds it – in a remarkable scene).

When you reach the end of Loxahatchee Road there is a levee to climb. If you want to drive in you pay $10.00 or so, and you can put your boat into a canal, and off you go into another world called the River of Grass.  If you choose to turn left, you see where people put in their airboats.  We walked over there, and asked how much an airboat ride was.  “For two?” the feller asked.  And I said yes, and he said $325.00.  Now, I like to have my eardrums broken by a straight-piped four-cylinder propeller engine just as much as the next guy, maybe even more, but $325.00?!?!  Please, no.

So we walked the levee Northbound.  Walking is free.  And quieter.  We saw fish – if we had fishing gear, we could have fed the church!  It was a lovely walk, albeit quite sunny.  We walked back into Palm Beach County, and turned around, having enjoyed our brief stay.  They say sunsets are remarkable up there on the levee and I don’t doubt it.  You don’t have to pay $10.00 to watch the sun set.

Before I go on, let me just geo-locate you: I was at the Southern end of the Arthur Marshall Loxahatchee National Preserve.  The better developed entrance to that Preserve is on Lee Road in Boynton.  The stark contrast between civilization (read huge developments) and the River of Grass is better felt in Broward County though.

When Jesus said “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” in Acts 1:8, what did He mean by “ends of the Earth?”  Was he talking about a flat Earth that had four corners, and like the bushman in “The God’s Must Be Crazy” we are to look for the edge of the world and only then stop evangelizing?  Well, maybe.  If you can’t find the edge, and you just keep evangelizing, maybe that would be good.

But standing there on the levee looking at all the massive residential construction out there, I marveled both at the vastness of the Everglades – it had it’s true beauty.  But I also marveled at just how many people had amassed out there, and knowing the circumstances of just a couple of them, thought just how much they need to know Jesus.  They need you and me to be “witnesses” as Jesus called them.  To be people who invite others to experience the grace of God that we have through Jesus.

What “end of the world” has Jesus called you to?  Can you give a witness?

Back from the Everglades,

Craig

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 1 Peter 3:16-17