rivers

I don't know what song was playing on my stereo. I think that it was a nice little groove that just came up on the shuffle.



I wanted to say something about relationships. I thought of a metaphor about meeting and getting to know people.
All too often, it is like we are walking along the bank of a river heading in our own direction. Some of us try to make this journey alone. Some of us try to make it with friends. Sometimes there are more friends around and we spend a lot of time not traveling. Sometimes there is only one friend around and we spend a lot of time experiencing the ride, traveling and talking for hours on end. However, I think that when it comes to really intimate relationships, we tend to actually view ourselves as being alone on our side of the riverbank looking across at the other shore and trying to find somebody to notice us as we notice them. And sometimes we find somebody who will say hello, wave, smile and try their best to communicate over the rushing water of the world. Eventually, we may try to meet this person at a place in the river where there is a crossing. They might wish to come over and walk along side us for a while on our side of the river. We may find that we enjoy going to the other side of the river every once in a while.

...

Sometimes, however...what might end up happening is that we can only really meet at a place in the river where the two sides are close enough to just reach across and feel the presence of the other. We may find that we care a great deal about that person and try to hold onto them delicately over the space of water.
When this happens, I am confident that one of the two people will end up falling into the water. This has been my experience in situations described in my metaphor. Perhaps both of individuals will fall in, sometimes drowning. When one is all stretched out and excited in the manner of leaning over a river and holding on to love, it is easy enough to grab a stray piece of clothing or a hand that the other has left out there within reach.

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So, what is one to do? First it is important to recognize that a place in the river where the banks are close is not the only place to meet with love. What is often forgotten in our search for another is the water. Get a boat! Take care of yourself out there. Try to see what you will need to take with you on the journey down the waters of life. There is no reason why we can't simply invite another to join us in their own boat. A helping push on the other's vessel in order to avoid a danger ahead is so much more enriching than the sorts of relationships that I see around- those featuring two people embraced over the rushing water of the world. Take a break with your partner during your travels. Decide on which bank to rest together. Build a camp. Build a permanent camp, if you want to do so. Just don't forget your boat. Don't forget to be responsible. Do not under any circumstance forget what you have promised the other that you will do in order to keep them safe, to keep them from drowning in the water of the world. This is love.


love always,
Samuel