A River Stone

Have you ever held a river stone? Usually clothed in nature's earth tones of gray, brown and black, they are uniformly smooth to the touch. Lying on the bottom of rivers and streams and brooklets, the course and current of water over the decades serves as polishing agent, smoothing out those cracks and crevices wearing down the surface.I sometimes think we are river stones in the great stream of life. We come into life all rough and rugged and what not. But through the course of ages (youth, adulthood, middle age, old age), the four ages of man to be exact, life smooths out our constitution, our attitude and disposition. It deposits knowledge and wisdom through circumstance and situation. We grow and become beautiful in spirit. Just like the river stones whose beauty lies in their simplicity and the organic nature of their development, so too with us. Life has the ability through its relentless current and it's unstoppable movement (with the assistance of time) to smooth over the worst of/in us.



That smooth polished quality such as you find in a Maya Angelou, a Ghandi, or a Cornel West, teaches us that it is not necessary to fight life. When I observe Dr. Angelou I am always amazed at the peacefulness her character exudes. And Cornel West's wisdom is awe-inspiring because it seems grounded in love. And what can we not learn from Ghandi? We often have to learn the hard way what it means to go against the current: things take longer to learn and absorb, we face constant difficulty and the constant tension of fighting the current wears us down physically, emotionally and mentally.



As I move through this current that is my life, I want to grow smooth and polished, with a worn beautiful patina that only time may confer. Sometimes I can feel the current coursing over my life. As I encounter people and situations I can at times sense whether I am fighting or moving along. Everyone has a current coursing all around them. That's life. Whether we resist or move along will determine the kind of life we have. It may take a momemt or two to feel the motion and get used to it, but if we learn to pay attention, to be silent and to listen we will learn.