Violently the Rain Falls

Violently the rain falls as we go down the road
In search of the beach where river meets sea,
Wheere the calm meets the torrent.
And we find and get out and the rain hits our faces.
Was coming out here worth the trouble and pain?
How far must we walk to see river and ocean?
Can we make it that far in the wind and the rain?
Yet to see that great ocean
Yes, was worth the walk,
To see the white breakers
Roar like thunder to the shore.
And I thought the rain was so violent and forbidding
But those waves as they hit the sand on the beach,
And the white foam that grew
Sometimes closer than we thought,
Chased us back up the beach
As we played tag with the ocean.
Yes,  we played tag with with water than roared like thunder
As it shaped and reshaped the beach at our feet.
And for contrast we walked up the beach to the river,
So calm as it flowed quietly down to its end.
How can this calm and that thunder beside us
Both be called water?
And the rain, yes the rain, that fell down from the sky
Was water as well.
Water  so violent, and water so calm.
Water of death, and water of life.
Both in our presence aas we staared at the contrast.
And we saw for ourselves the words in a song 
That we all loved so dearly,
"Have you ever stood at the ocean
With the white foam at your feet;
Felt the endless thundering motion
Then I say, you've seen Jesus my Lord."*
We  saw the mighty and powerful ocean.
We saw the calm and peaceful river.
We felt the cold autumn rain  in our faces.
And in all three, we saw our God.

*from "Jesus My Lord" by John Fischer