The water rushes over me, frothing and churning. It curls this way and that in no discernible pattern, dragging branches and leaves and other debris along with it.
I am a stone in a raging river.
I am unmoved. I am rooted to the riverbed, a large rock scratched smooth by wave after wave of sand and water. I used to have more edges and facets. More complications. The water has pushed its way into my nooks and crannies and pried them loose. I have willingly let some of them go, but others I fought to keep until the river wore me down, with much pain, and I relented. The river was usually right.
I am a stone in a raging river. I feel strong and solid as so much chaos whirls around me. I am still among movement. I am quiet among noise.
Still, I am sometimes dislodged. The river swells, runs faster and deeper and angrier. I am unable to remain steadfast as the flooding and debris work their way underneath me and carry me off. I tumble mercilessly, spinning. I’ve lost my place.
I don’t like being dislodged, yet sooner or later it always comes. I should expect it, but am always caught unaware, and then I’m reeling. I am overwhelmed and cannot cope. I am pounded by gravel and tree trunks and other stones who are lost themselves too.
Eventually I come to rest. I am able to let all pass by me. I find solid footing, even as the river keeps moving. It never stops moving. It is filled to capacity, carving new channels into everything it touches.
I am carved. I am rubbed down but not out. I remain who I am at my core of agate and jasper and granite and heartache and love.
I am a stone in a raging river.
The other night, as I lay in bed trying to sleep, this phrase came to me: I am a stone in a raging river. I’ve been using it as a meditation ever since, and for whatever reason it brings me peace, so I wanted to share it with you, as part of Just Write, a project by my wonderful friend Heather King of The Extraordinary Ordinary.
Yay, Katherine! I'm so glad to see your Just Write today. Love this. So beautiful. My meditation phrase is "I am not a problem, I am a person." They can be so powerful to say over and over, can't they?
Molly,
It's funny. I'm not a person who meditates. I was just so stressed out by the volume of things coming at me all the time, and I was laying there trying to go to sleep and that's the phrase that came to mind. I could imagine myself as this large stone letting everything wash over me to the best of my ability, and for whatever reason that helped. I love that you have a phrase that helps you too. I hope others will share theirs in the comments.
Wow. Just… wow. That is so powerful. I found you on Just Write and I'm so glad I did. What an incredible metaphor for life. Thank you for sharing it.
Thank you Trish!
So beautiful and powerful.
I like to think of myself as a fracken boulder… 😉
Yes, peace. That, and grounding.
This is lovely. Thank you.
This is just gorgeous.
the word picture here is so dead on i wonder why i haven't thought of it before. being made smooth. of course that's what's happening. thank you.
You know what's beautiful about a stone in a raging river? It is continually be smoothed and refined, just like me. In those storms of life, the times that are so hard and I constantly ask "why, Lord?", He gently reminds me that is using these times to mold me, shape me, create me new and make something beautiful out of my mess. I am so thankful for your blog – thank you!
Thank you Stephanie!
Oh lady, this is beautiful. I'm going to hold on to it and remember it. The analogy is so many layers of beautiful. Like you.
xo
XO, friend. Hope I get to see you sometime soon!
Katherine,
Love…love …love this! It is the raging river of life that not only smooths us, but in that transformation, we are better able to go with the flow of heartache and love. Please keep writing.
Thank you Benta!
This is a powerful piece of imagery – I'm going to save it and use these words as a touch stone when I'm seeking shelter from the storm. Thanks so much for sharing – I do feel lost these days, altho I think I may be on a path out. Still, the journey is so tedious and slow. Trudge, trudge, trudge…