TRR photo by Karen Macbride Roth “Everything that you need for your life happens effortlessly. It all flows to you like the river.” (Click for larger image)

Letting go with the river

By TOM KANE

I was walking along River Road in Callicoon beside the Delaware on a Sunday afternoon recently. I like to walk there because it’s flat and provides an unimpared view of the river. And because there’s never much traffic. The road is a dead-end and is only traversed by the folks who live down that way. So my walk is hardly ever interrupted. The moist smell of the clear water enlivens the air and adds to the verve of walking. The river rushes by me in the brilliant afternoon sun. There isn’t a cloud in the sky. The lush trees on the side of the gorge over in Pennsylvania provide a quiet backdrop for the drama of the rushing water. The flow is like a vortex of energy cascading through me. It seemed to encourage me to let go of what I was holding back inside, afraid it would take me to places I don’t dare go.

Rivers have a brilliance that is all their own, especially smaller rivers like the Delaware. It’s not majestic like the Hudson, but is humble and modest, swelling over the tops of hidden boulders, billowing into a churning wake or quietly dancing with a silvery shimmer over a bed of pebbles.

What’s really wonderful about living near a river is that it can speak to you of profound things if you will only listen. The flow of life is like the river. They say you can never step into the same river twice. But when you think about it, you can never step into the same moment twice. It’s gone. Gone with its pains, its anxieties, its ecstasies and its opportunities. Life doesn’t stop flowing, just like the river.

I sat down on a tree stump for a while and just watched and listened. For a river that isn’t very wide, the Delaware carries a powerful lot of water. I thought of all the people down river in Trenton and Philadelphia who would use this water that’s passing me by for their drinking water. It will bring them life and nourishment and energy for their souls.

The scientists tell us that our bodies are 95 percent water. Small wonder then why we’re so fascinated at river side to sit and watch the flow or sit on a sandy beach to experience the waves rolling in without ceasing.

I looked up and saw two canoes come barreling along, shooting over the boulders and riding through the silvery brilliance. It’s still Spring when the river is higher than usual and the water more abundant and powerful. A lot to folks don’t like to go on the river until late June and July when it’s more tame and canoe-friendly. The boaters never notices me they were so intent on conquering the flow and fighting where the river was taking them. They seemed to be afraid of the force of the water instead of riding it and using it.

It could have been that they weren’t skilled enough at canoeing. A lot of folks don’t know how to conserve their energy and use the paddles intelligently, changing their direction with a minimal amount of effort. It’s all in knowing how. And it’s all in knowing when to let go and go with the flow.

I think it’s Deepak Chopra who talks about the law of least effort. He says that the holy gurus of old said that when you learn to get in touch with your higher self, when you achieved higher awareness, everything that you need for your life happens effortlessly. It all flows to you like the river. Perhaps that’s the lesson I was trying to learn as I sat there on the banks of the Delaware. Perhaps that’s what the river is trying to tell us.