River Ride

What, then, is the path to holiness? It’s the same as the path to wholeness. And we are never “there” yet. We are always just in the river. Don’t try to push the river or make the river happen; it is already happening, and you cannot stop it. All you can do is recognize it, enjoy it, and ever more fully allow it to carry you.

As John O’Donohue put it:

I would love to live
Like a river flows,
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding. [1]

This is the great surprise, and for some a disappointment: this divine Flow has very little to do with you. The Flow doesn’t have to do with you being perfect, right, belonging to the right group, or even understanding the Flow. Jesus never has any such checklist test before he heals someone. He just says, as it were, “Are you going to ask for or allow yourself to be touched? If so, let’s go!” ~R. Rohr

and 35 years ago, I somehow knew this:

"Don’t Push the River"

                                      

Life is a river—its course is unknown.

Its waters run deep and its current is strong.

And it’s winding its way to a point far beyond.

This river of life has a mind all its own.

 Don’t push the river—just let it flow.

Life comes to us when we learn to let go

And just go with the current, go with the flow

Of the river of life—let your spirit grow .

You can’t push a river—it’s simply unwise,

And if you persist, then you’ll miss the surprise

Of discovering life to its fullest degree,

Open to change and excitingly free.

 Roll on river—roll on life!

 There’s certainly merit in plotting a course,

But the trouble arises when we try to force

The creation of that which must come naturally.

We miss some new possibilities.

Don’t push the river—just let it flow.

Life comes to us when we learn to let go

And just go with the current, go with the flow

Of the river of life—let your spirit grow .

(Sarah Mulkey, 1981)