And [the angel] showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Rev. 22:1.
The Kaufmann family got to experience a little bit of heaven on earth. They wanted a simple summer weekend cottage by their favorite stream called Bear Run, some 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Edgar J. Kauffmann owned a department store in Pittsburgh during the Great Depression of the 1930s. For many years Bear Run had provided a rustic place of the Kaufmann family and their employees to get away from the city and spend time embraced in quiet nature. The family in particular enjoyed picnicking beside a 20-foot waterfall that sang its tireless song throughout the beautiful wooded area.
To build a unique weekend home beside this waterfall, Edgar Kaufmann engaged the noted, but mostly unemployed, 67-year-old architect Frank Lloyd Wright from Wisconsin. What he got instead was a masterpiece, aptly named "Fallingwater."
It seems that Wright was always long on vision but short on money and execution. After several months of delay Kaufmann informed Wright that he would be driving from Milwaukee to the architect's studio in order to see plans for the house. Wright's apprentices afterward noted that the client's imminent arrival did not seem to bother their noted teacher at all. With topological map in hand, he made some preliminary sketches and warmly greeted Kaufmann.
After Wright explained how the house would be cantilevered overt he waterfall, the very pragmatic Kaufmann remarked, "I thought that you would place the house near the waterfall, not over it." To this Mr. Wright replied, "E.J., I want you to live with the waterfall, not just look at it. I want it to become an integral part of your lives."
An integral part indeed. The house, with its strong horizontal lines, juts out from the rock outcropping and comes to rest directly over the falling water. Whereas the visual effect of a house stretched over a descending stream is most dramatic, the sound of the water naturally and continually reverberating through the home is a wonder to hear.
Fallingwater is considered great architecture because it is not just a cabin by a stream. The sound and sight of the living stream transforms the entire structure. Likewise, the Master Architect wants to transform our lives with the living water of His Word. Like Fallingwater we can choose to structure our lives so that the Word is our constant companion, filling our existence with its sights and sounds. Move next to the Water. Let it become an integral part of your life. It will be a foretaste of heaven.
Lord, let me be attentive to the living Water You have prepared for me today. I want my life to be a living reflection of Your ways to all who meet me.
The Kaufmann family got to experience a little bit of heaven on earth. They wanted a simple summer weekend cottage by their favorite stream called Bear Run, some 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Edgar J. Kauffmann owned a department store in Pittsburgh during the Great Depression of the 1930s. For many years Bear Run had provided a rustic place of the Kaufmann family and their employees to get away from the city and spend time embraced in quiet nature. The family in particular enjoyed picnicking beside a 20-foot waterfall that sang its tireless song throughout the beautiful wooded area.
To build a unique weekend home beside this waterfall, Edgar Kaufmann engaged the noted, but mostly unemployed, 67-year-old architect Frank Lloyd Wright from Wisconsin. What he got instead was a masterpiece, aptly named "Fallingwater."
It seems that Wright was always long on vision but short on money and execution. After several months of delay Kaufmann informed Wright that he would be driving from Milwaukee to the architect's studio in order to see plans for the house. Wright's apprentices afterward noted that the client's imminent arrival did not seem to bother their noted teacher at all. With topological map in hand, he made some preliminary sketches and warmly greeted Kaufmann.
After Wright explained how the house would be cantilevered overt he waterfall, the very pragmatic Kaufmann remarked, "I thought that you would place the house near the waterfall, not over it." To this Mr. Wright replied, "E.J., I want you to live with the waterfall, not just look at it. I want it to become an integral part of your lives."
An integral part indeed. The house, with its strong horizontal lines, juts out from the rock outcropping and comes to rest directly over the falling water. Whereas the visual effect of a house stretched over a descending stream is most dramatic, the sound of the water naturally and continually reverberating through the home is a wonder to hear.
Fallingwater is considered great architecture because it is not just a cabin by a stream. The sound and sight of the living stream transforms the entire structure. Likewise, the Master Architect wants to transform our lives with the living water of His Word. Like Fallingwater we can choose to structure our lives so that the Word is our constant companion, filling our existence with its sights and sounds. Move next to the Water. Let it become an integral part of your life. It will be a foretaste of heaven.
Lord, let me be attentive to the living Water You have prepared for me today. I want my life to be a living reflection of Your ways to all who meet me.
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