Our Newsletter
Our newsletter, "Cross Current" is published each Sunday. Along with an up-to-date rundown of congregational activities, each edition features an interesting and challenging cover story that connects faith to real life.
Written by Rick Gamble, these articles are published the following week in the Brantford Expositor where Rick is the Religion and Ethics columnist.
The Inside Story
Leo Lambert had tunnel vision — in a good way.
A chemist in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he explored caves in his spare time but couldn't get inside the natural entrance to a cavern in Lookout Mountain, which towered over his city. That's because, in 1905, the opening was filled in during construction of a railway tunnel.
But Lambert saw the potential of reopening the cave as a tourist attraction, formed a company to make it happen, and bought up much of the land on one side of the mountain.
In 1928, crews began drilling. The idea was to dig above the natural cave entrance and put in an elevator to take visitors down. Then, on December 28th, a jackhammer operator working on the shaft hit a void in the rock and felt a gush of cold air, even though he was still 160 feet above Lookout Mountain Cave. Looking further, the worker found an opening just 18 inches high and five feet wide.
Never one to stay on the sidelines, Lambert went in to see for himself, taking some friends. For almost nine hours, they crawled through the cramped and claustrophobic crevice pushing deep inside the mountain until they heard the sound of rushing water. Emerging into a chamber, the explorers saw something that dropped their jaws, even in lamp light. It was a waterfall, 15 storeys high (Niagara is 18). The next day, Lambert guided his wife, Ruby, to the site and named it after her — Ruby Falls.
Today, hundreds visit every day, descending by elevator to reach America's tallest and deepest underground waterfall. Smooth stone pathways barely wide enough for two abreast snake through the mountain, past stalactites and stalagmites, onyx columns, and ancient rock formations resembling everything from an ice cream cone and a potato chip, to a donkey and the feet of elephants and dragons.
About 120 storeys below ground level, the spectacular falls are bathed in dramatic, colourful lights that illuminate the water that flows in from streams above. The flow then runs through the mountain and empties into the Tennessee River where it sustains the surrounding valley and beyond.
As for the cave itself, it was formed when slightly acidic groundwater in subterranean streams dissolved the soft limestone, creating passageways and caves over millions of years. As my good friend Darlene Ryan points out, we think of mountains as symbols of solidity and stability when, in actual fact, they're porous and pocked with caves and caverns. And so it is with us.
When the acidity of sin or even a corrosive lack of purpose slowly eats away at our hearts, it creates empty spots within that we seem hardwired to fill. Some resort to addiction or emotional dependency, others focus on power or possessions, and many — preferring simple distraction — just want to be left to their own devices, especially the electronic ones.
But the voids always come with wonderful potential to find greater meaning and contentment, if we fill them with the right stuff. That process begins when we find the courage to explore our emptiness and uncertainty with the help of those we trust. Praying for clarity and insight, and trusting God to bring direction and strength, we can probe the past or push deeper into what lies ahead. But the goal is not to discover ourselves. It's to encounter God, because He holds the keys to purpose now and paradise later.
“Discovering Ruby Falls was like discovering God,” wrote Leo Lambert. “At first it's very dark, scary, and uncertain. You don't know what lies ahead. You bump into things you didn't even realize were there and you suffer injuries, bumps and bruises.
“You fall down into sticky mud and mire and feel you can't go on. But you get up with a feeling that somewhere ahead lies something more wonderful than you could ever imagine. As you add light to what you discovered, you find the things that caused you suffering and injury were wonderful, God-made things, put there for you to witness and give you joy.
“It's all more than you ever imagined you could witness. It is God, and Ruby Falls and the Lookout Mountain cave are God's creations, made for [us] to enjoy. I'm just a little proud that He used me.”
He can use us, too. All we need do is be transparent and let the Living Water of God's Spirit flow into our hearts from streams above, run through our lives, and empty into our everyday circumstances to bless and sustain those around us and beyond. The Light will illuminate that work for all to see, and people will be drawn to the beauty. Beauty deep within.
By Rick Gamble. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. Originally published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of Followers of Christ, an independent, nondenominational church in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. To get these free weekly articles by email, with no strings attached, send a note to Rick at info@followers.ca
A chemist in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he explored caves in his spare time but couldn't get inside the natural entrance to a cavern in Lookout Mountain, which towered over his city. That's because, in 1905, the opening was filled in during construction of a railway tunnel.
But Lambert saw the potential of reopening the cave as a tourist attraction, formed a company to make it happen, and bought up much of the land on one side of the mountain.
In 1928, crews began drilling. The idea was to dig above the natural cave entrance and put in an elevator to take visitors down. Then, on December 28th, a jackhammer operator working on the shaft hit a void in the rock and felt a gush of cold air, even though he was still 160 feet above Lookout Mountain Cave. Looking further, the worker found an opening just 18 inches high and five feet wide.
Never one to stay on the sidelines, Lambert went in to see for himself, taking some friends. For almost nine hours, they crawled through the cramped and claustrophobic crevice pushing deep inside the mountain until they heard the sound of rushing water. Emerging into a chamber, the explorers saw something that dropped their jaws, even in lamp light. It was a waterfall, 15 storeys high (Niagara is 18). The next day, Lambert guided his wife, Ruby, to the site and named it after her — Ruby Falls.
Today, hundreds visit every day, descending by elevator to reach America's tallest and deepest underground waterfall. Smooth stone pathways barely wide enough for two abreast snake through the mountain, past stalactites and stalagmites, onyx columns, and ancient rock formations resembling everything from an ice cream cone and a potato chip, to a donkey and the feet of elephants and dragons.
About 120 storeys below ground level, the spectacular falls are bathed in dramatic, colourful lights that illuminate the water that flows in from streams above. The flow then runs through the mountain and empties into the Tennessee River where it sustains the surrounding valley and beyond.
As for the cave itself, it was formed when slightly acidic groundwater in subterranean streams dissolved the soft limestone, creating passageways and caves over millions of years. As my good friend Darlene Ryan points out, we think of mountains as symbols of solidity and stability when, in actual fact, they're porous and pocked with caves and caverns. And so it is with us.
When the acidity of sin or even a corrosive lack of purpose slowly eats away at our hearts, it creates empty spots within that we seem hardwired to fill. Some resort to addiction or emotional dependency, others focus on power or possessions, and many — preferring simple distraction — just want to be left to their own devices, especially the electronic ones.
But the voids always come with wonderful potential to find greater meaning and contentment, if we fill them with the right stuff. That process begins when we find the courage to explore our emptiness and uncertainty with the help of those we trust. Praying for clarity and insight, and trusting God to bring direction and strength, we can probe the past or push deeper into what lies ahead. But the goal is not to discover ourselves. It's to encounter God, because He holds the keys to purpose now and paradise later.
“Discovering Ruby Falls was like discovering God,” wrote Leo Lambert. “At first it's very dark, scary, and uncertain. You don't know what lies ahead. You bump into things you didn't even realize were there and you suffer injuries, bumps and bruises.
“You fall down into sticky mud and mire and feel you can't go on. But you get up with a feeling that somewhere ahead lies something more wonderful than you could ever imagine. As you add light to what you discovered, you find the things that caused you suffering and injury were wonderful, God-made things, put there for you to witness and give you joy.
“It's all more than you ever imagined you could witness. It is God, and Ruby Falls and the Lookout Mountain cave are God's creations, made for [us] to enjoy. I'm just a little proud that He used me.”
He can use us, too. All we need do is be transparent and let the Living Water of God's Spirit flow into our hearts from streams above, run through our lives, and empty into our everyday circumstances to bless and sustain those around us and beyond. The Light will illuminate that work for all to see, and people will be drawn to the beauty. Beauty deep within.
By Rick Gamble. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. Originally published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of Followers of Christ, an independent, nondenominational church in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. To get these free weekly articles by email, with no strings attached, send a note to Rick at info@followers.ca