Guard Your Heart and Mind: A Lesson from the Keeper of the Spring

The Scottish preacher and chaplain of the United States Senate asked, once, “a thought-provoking question: “Do you have a keeper of the spring?”

Marshall’s Scottish brogue enchanted audiences and allowed him to communicate relevant ideas that applied to his and our generation.

“The Keeper of the Spring” became one of his most beloved lessons.

An old man lived in the hills above a small village. On his property, a  stream flowed, providing fresh water to the town below. The man gathered sticks and leaves and cleared the silt. As long as he did this, the water stayed fresh and clear.

After a while, the man asked the town leaders for a small fee for his dedication to keeping the spring clean. They agreed.

But a new town council challenged the agreement.

“What exactly are we getting for our money?” scowled one cheap member. “I bet he doesn’t do anything. Has anyone seen him cleaning the spring?”

Silence fell over the group, followed by nods of approval. The council decided not to pay him.

The man stopped removing the silt, leaves, and sticks.

In the beginning, no one noticed the change. Later, the water started turning brown, creating an acrid, undrinkable taste.

Then, the townspeople realized the man’s vital task as the spring keeper. With him, the water was suitable. Without him, it was not.

Marshall took as his text for this parable Proverbs 4:23.

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Lives become corrupted without constant attention. Unless someone becomes the keeper of the spring in our lives, days grow foul.

We cannot avoid all influences. We can decide to decide what we let into our lives.

We apply that principle to our physical health. A steady diet of candy, cookies, pastries, and fats drains our energy and sets us on a course of lifelong disease.

The answer is to watch what you eat and make good choices.

Solomon focused on the heart, soul, and mind. If you do not protect what goes into those, spiritual mold encrusts a life.

We live in a contentious and cynical age. The modern person “doomscrolls,” a practice of flipping through negative social media feeds. The more we let unfiltered into our lives, the more our thinking grows rotten.

We leave our sticks, leaves, and silt in our life. Inflammatory media or reporting (regardless of the source) blocks the flow of spiritual vitality. Petty quarrels over opinions feed a beast that needs to be starved.

How do we “tend our spring” when overwhelmed by an unlimited and steady flow of mayhem and rage?

Marshall proposed the ideal solution. Become the keeper of your spring.

Put down phones and stop watching things that create spiritual scum. Drop relationships that drag you down rather than lift you up.

Remember the adage: If you walk with the lame man, you learn how to limp

Don’t let improper influences linger in your life. Without the keeper of the spring, souls, lives, and hearts sour. Keep yours clean by staying vigilant.