The River of Drowning
Although it is late in the day of my life
it is not too late to pick up what has fallen
to fix what was broken
to bring light where there was darkness
To set foot, to take one step
to begin the journey
This is a world and a lifetime of difference
from merely drifting down the river of life
without taking the tiller
All rivers run to the sea
but
there are rapids that need careful planning
rocks to avoid
falls that must be portaged
To merely drift with the river
not to steer
is to waste ones life on the unnecessary difficulty of problems
that could be avoided
So, I take
the rudder of my life
Grasp it as firmly as I can
Steer my boat by some star
aim for some home
even if distant. . .
I do so knowing full well
I know not where I am bound
did not Odysseus
that ancient sojourner
visit many lands he did not intend
in his decade of wandering
There are other travelers upon this trackless ocean
Freely and gladly I offer my own help and blessings
Traveling in such a way
I will not fall into despair
And
If I come into a strange and unknown land
I trust I will find friends and help
miraculously
always when I need it
There is a beauty in everything
when I embrace all of life
There is ugliness in anything
I exclude from loving
This beauty is not a mood of mind
It is a feeling heart
filled with joy
And this ugliness is not the feeling of the heart
But the judgment of the mind only
Divorced from feeling
For feeling cannot find ugliness
But only be wounded in Love
And mind can only approximate beauty
But not move ecstatically with it
Only the feeling heart can step this dance
and
So I laugh
love and am full of praise
for this river of life
This river of life in which we all
will one day drown