A Mountain Stream and Life

A Mountain Stream and Life-

Nature has the power to teach us many truths.  In order to learn those truths, we have to slow down and observe.  We have to take time to see.  To really see.  To allow our senses to fill up with the sights and sounds nature gives freely.  It is about our ability to stop the craziness of life and breathe in the glory of trees and mountains and streams.  To listen. To hear what we have never heard before.

The path I was traveling was narrow.  It meandered through majestic evergreens that stood tall and proud close to the path.  Huge ferns filled the spaces under the giant trees.  Mixed in with the ferns were other vivid green plants that thrive in the moist forest.  Moss covered fallen tree branches and the north side of boulders.  The beauty of it all took my breath away.  Everything so lush and green.  Everything so alive.  So welcoming.  I knew the forest was inviting me to share the wonder. And then I heard it.  I recognized the sound of water rushing toward the sea.  Water spashing over rocks.  Water inviting me to come see.  And I did.  I stood beside the stream and took in all the beauty that was a gift to me.  It filled me up.

As if this wasn't enough, the next part of my journey took me to a new thought.  A new revelation.  A new sense of life.  It all came together as I walked beside the rushing stream.

This is what I saw that day.  The water in the stream was moving quickly in most places.  It plunged down rocks that rested in the stream.  It cut  new paths wherever it wanted.  It was calm where no rocks or trees interrupted its flow.  Those calm places seemed to slow the pace and give the water time to collect before continuing its journey.  It was ever moving.  Never completely stopping.  It had a destination.  Nothing was going to keep it from moving forward to that which awaited it.

You know my thoughts, don't you?  You know that as I spent time watching the movement of the water in the stream, I thought about human life.  I thought about the quick pace most of us accept as our lot in life.  We move rapidly from one area of life to the next.  Sometimes we find ourselves out of control.  We become sidetracked and lose sight of our journey.  We tumble and fall often unable to stop ourselves.  Yet through it all, it is beautiful.  It is the mark we leave on this earth.  Our gift.

Some of us take that road less traveled.  We cut a new path because we understand ourselves.  We know that this particular path maybe a little more difficult, but we also know we cannot settle for anything less for settling would mean defeat of our spirit.  This new way of life belongs to us.  It may seem strange and forboding to others, but to us it is perfect.  Cutting that new path may be what someone else needs, too.  When they see us following our truest self, it gives them courage to leave the rushing and forge the new.

And then there are those times in life when calm settles over us.  We feel peaceful.  Our souls are at rest.  Like the water that pools and waits before it moves on, we need these restful times.  We need the serenity that washes over us while we are in this special place.  We know that in a few moments life will push us once again, but for this precious time, we are grateful.  We leave this place feeling refreshed.  Able to face whatever walks that path with us.

Like the water in the stream, we are ever moving.  Even when we are sitting, our minds are moving.  Our thoughts won't let us alone.  We are moving, moving, moving.  We may not know the destination, but we do realize we are on a journey.  Actually, we know the eventual destination.  What we don't know is the mystery of the journey.  We can't stop it no matter how hard we try.  We might take a few tumbles along the way.  We might fall.  But this is true-life and the stream do not stop.  Each moves over, around and through all obstacles.  There is no going back.  No cutting a new path around a huge rock that rests right in the middle of the path.

Eventually the stream arrives at its destination.  It mixes with other waters to form a bigger stream-a river or lake or ocean.  At that point its personal identity is lost.  It has done its work.  It is now part of a much bigger picture.  And it is a beautiful thing-this new picture.  Our lives are like that, too.  We are each separate yet part of a much larger whole.  We move in sync toward our destination.  We are not swallowed up.  We are joined together in a new and beautiful space and time.

We are moving, all of us.  We are journeying.  Along the way we experience life-the full and the empty.  The quick and the slow.  The peaceful and the aggitated.  That is what life is.  It is ever flowing toward the next bend, the next moment.  The next lesson.

How wonderful when a moment appears and takes us to new thoughts.  Takes us to new revelations.  To new understandings.  Moves us further in our journey.  Gives us new insights about our own lives.  When these moments fill us, we understand and are grateful.