I was looking over one of my writings from many years ago and I was reminded of a wonderful day in my life. Under the perfect blue sky of Texas, and in the perfect temperature of the morning hours, I took a few hours off and floated down the Guadalupe River. In Gruene, Texas.
There is a tradition of people renting rubber inner tubes (toobs as they call it in Texas) and placing them in the river, and allowing the current to gently float them a few miles down river.
As I laid back on my toob, I thought to myself "I have finally found a sport that I can relate to." I had quickly mastered my toob and the art of
floating. I was drifting along backwards looking at where I had been. I didn't hear the rapids, and I didn't see their rocks, I just laid back listening to the quiet sounds of nature and enjoying the relaxation.
The river seemed to move only very slightly and I inched along the shoreline in its current. Then, without warning, the velocity of my trip increased, the toob was turning and I was going
up-and-down over rocks. I struggled to stay up-right and to go in the right direction of the fork in the river. As soon as the rapids began, the flow seem to stop and I was in the water without movement. The toob was no longer moving downstream; it was just going ever so slowly in a continuous circle.
I found that after the fast movements I was very impatient to get moving again until I learned to enjoy the slow
circular motions. I saw things that I had been blind to before. Evidence of God was all around me. A dozen or more giant turtles sunned themselves just a few feet away from my endless circle. On the third turn I saw beautiful birds standing on one leg as if to pose for me.
The flow of life is much like my journey on that river. If I'm only looking back to the past, I cannot see where I'm going.
When the speed of life increases, I'm often shocked and all I can do is hold on for dear life. Then when movements stop or has no meomentum, I quickly become bored and impatient. It's tempting to become addicted to speed, but there are more blessings to be found in stillness.
In stillness and quiet, I find God and evidence of God everywhere.
After fully enjoying the stillness and feeling refreshed by it, I had to physically paddle using my arms and hands and feet to get back to an area of the river where the current was taking things downstream. When I was in the flow again, I could just lay back and enjoy the trip.
Everything that I experienced on that small river was part of a larger life.
If you really want to live a large life, you need a concept of a larger God. No matter where you are on your river of life, God is there and ready and willing to help. When you ask for God's help, you stop the struggles. Just lie back, and relax, and enjoy the flow.
Most of us don't remember what we did on a particular day last year, let alone many years ago, but we remember the magic moments. And many of those
moments are times of spiritual experience, where the quietness of God surrounds us. That day, I let go and I let God take over. How relaxing it was.
I realized today I may not be floating down the river, but I can have the same experience by simply letting go of some of the things that cause great tension. Much of it comes from trying to manage and control life and the people in it.
I could not control the river; I just flowed with it. If your tension is coming from relationships with coworkers and family, imagine today that you are all together toobing down the river. Let go and let God.
