Seek Higher Ground

Evan Swensen
December 12, 2025

Seek Higher Ground

By: Dan Larson

From the fictional town of Cedar Valley, where characters from Quiet Echo continue to respond to real-world events.

The floodwaters are rising in Washington State this morning, and so is something else—the oldest instinct we have as human beings: to help the person next to us.

Nearly 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate as rivers across western Washington swell to historic levels. Governor Bob Ferguson called the situation “extremely unpredictable” and urged residents to seek higher ground. But amid the emergency sirens and sandbag lines, something quieter is happening—something the news cameras don’t always catch. In the small town of Index, a man named Chad Walker and a woman named Adrienne Higbee were photographed helping an out-of-town neighbor secure their property as the Skykomish River roared past. In Orting, deputies waded through waist-deep water to rescue residents from an RV park—including one man wearing a Santa hat. California is sending rescue teams north. The National Guard is filling sandbags. Neighbors are knocking on doors.

This is the part of the story that deserves our attention.

We live in an age of division, or so we’re told. The news reminds us daily of all the ways we’re fractured—by politics, by geography, by ideology. And there’s truth in it. But it’s not the whole truth. When the waters rise, something in us remembers what we owe each other. Not because anyone commands it. Not because there’s a government program for it. But because we were made for it.

Scripture tells us to “bear one another’s burdens” and that in doing so we fulfill the law of Christ. That’s not a metaphor. It’s a blueprint. And you can see it working in real time this week in places like Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley, where people who’ve never met are showing up for each other because that’s what people do when the situation demands it.

Here in Cedar Valley, we know something about harsh weather and hard seasons. We know what it’s like to depend on the fellow down the road—and to be depended upon. It’s the unspoken compact of small-town life: you help when you can, because one day you’ll need help, too. That’s not cynicism. That’s community.

Governor Ferguson said something worth repeating: “The next 48 hours are critical.” That’s true for Washington. But it’s also true for the rest of us—not because we’re in the path of the flood, but because every day presents us with the same choice. Do we wait for someone else to act? Or do we seek higher ground ourselves and extend a hand to whoever’s struggling beside us?

The phrase “higher ground” keeps appearing in these reports—officials urging people to move to safety. There’s a spiritual echo in that language, isn’t there? In times of trial, we’re all being called to higher ground. Not just physically, but morally. Spiritually. To rise above the noise, the fear, the comfortable excuses. To remember that we’re not just individuals pursuing our own survival. We’re neighbors. We’re keepers of one another.

Tonight, as families in Washington sleep in shelters or on relatives’ couches, wondering what the morning will bring, we might say a prayer for them. And we might also ask ourselves: when the waters rise in our own communities—whatever form that rising takes—will we be the ones filling sandbags? Will we be the ones knocking on doors?

The floodwaters will recede. They always do. But the choice we make in how we respond to each other—that stays.

Seek higher ground. And bring someone with you.

It’s free, live, and fresh! Quiet Echo—A Cedar Valley News Podcast is live on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/4nV8XsE, Spotify: https://bit.ly/4hdNHfX, YouTube: https://bit.ly/48Zfu1g , and Podcastle: https://bit.ly/4pYRstE. Every day, you can hear Cedar Valley’s editorials read aloud by the voices you’ve come to know—warm, steady, and rooted in the values we share. Step into the rhythm of our town, one short reflection at a time. Wherever you listen, you’ll feel right at home. Presented by the Publication Consultants: https://publicationconsultants.com/