Sitting by the River

I finished my day last night by meditating with a small group of very dedicated practitioners. It was a fitting ending to a fitting day filled with light and sacredness on so many levels...

Very early this morning, I went down to the river because it was foggy. But it was a different kind of fog when I compare it to the day I went paddling in the river. That day was characterized by purifying and cleansing swirling mists which engulfed everything in sight - including me...

This morning, it was gray, and still, and calm, and beautiful...

As I sat on the rocks, I thought of the bench further up, where I sat for most of the year, and I knew that it was what I had to do. I had to sit by the river for all of those many months on that bench and wait to be invited closer and much further in, even though I had no idea I would eventually leave the safety of this bench...

I had to sit by the river and learn each lesson it had to teach me - each one unfolding in its due time...

I had to sit by the river in silence and wait until it decided to speak to me - yielding up its wisdom and insights...

I had to sit by the river and be open enough to read every message left for me to discover - engraved in every leaf, and every river current, and in every creature that I encountered...

I had to sit by the river to learn to listen - to really listen - for the first time in my life...

I had to sit by the river to learn humility and the art of truly letting go...

I had to sit by the river and wait until I was instructed and invited to respond...

I had to sit by the river until it told me that it was time to come inside...

I had to sit by the river until I was ready - never once foreseeing what was coming...

I have journeyed far and wide and long this year - into the depths and every hidden corner of my heart - and even though I have traveled miles and distances from one end of this country to the other - no journey has been longer, harder, and deeper than the one within in my heart...

I was brought to the river for many Divine reasons which were seen and unseen. I know now that it was preordained...

Before I left, I stepped into the river once again, while a flock of birds sailed above me, joyously flying upstream, and disappearing into the fog...

Yes - being brought to this river was no accident, and as I sit in waiting this morning, I know that it all comes back - full circle...