Grand Lake

I once traveled across the Continental Divide to Grand Lake. It is a large lake with a small town situated around it. Some friends and I decided to cool ourselves in the cold mountain fed lake to relieve ourselves from the warm weather. As I submerged my feet in the cool clear water I opened my senses and took in the mountain summer day. 

The sun warmed my back, and a light rainfall earlier in the day brought a fresh scent with it. Some children were splashing around and their laughter carried across the lake. I thought of the water that was cooling my body and reflected on where this water was going. 

Grand Lake is the headwater of the mighty Colorado River and eventually makes its way to the deep blue of the Pacific. It seems such a long journey from my mountains to the wide bosom of the ocean. Though there is no way of knowing what this liquid, that brings forth life, will encounter its beginning and ending is already set. 

The life of a man or woman is similar in that respect. We are born and, someday, we will pass into the afterlife. We journey on this land in the river of time for what seems such along time but in the grand scheme of things is not as long as we think. The water can encounter so many obstacles along the way. Sometimes it drifts along a side stream, sometimes it will be slowed by a beaver dam, it may be absorbed by a farmer’s field to nourish crops for a small time, or it may travel straight and true down the river to its final destination. But no matter what path the water flows, it will always end in the same place. So it is with life. 

We are born on the lake and someday we will enter the mystery of the deep sea but it’s what we encounter on the river that will shape the world around us. We may get sidetracked or slowed down by we flow on nevertheless. We nourish those around us as the water nourishes the plants and animals. We leave our mark on this planet as the water marks the riverbanks. We carry hard learned lessons and memories, both good and bad, just as the water carries sediments as it flows on. The largest difference between the water and us is that we have some measure of control of how we flow. When we are slowed by the beaver dams that fate or our fellow man will sometimes place in front of us, we must endeavor to flow on. When we pass a person who is in need of help we must make the personal decision to absorb ourselves into the field and nourish the plant. When others try to lure us down a side stream we must remain true to ourselves and stay the course of the river. 

With so much going on around us it is so simple to forget that we all have a purpose in life. Every drop in a river has a job and a great sense of satisfaction comes only if that purpose is served. That job is complete before we reach the end of our journey. Were we to flow through the river without discovering the meaning of our existence then we enter the sea as a wasted drop of freshwater. The single drop does not know when or where its life purpose will be discovered. It could be soon after leaving the lakeshore or it may not occur until it nears the ocean but the purpose is there somewhere along the river. Perhaps the drop has many purposes and stops along its journey and perhaps it has only one. 

Whether we have many life tasks or merely one, they are all equally important. A single drop helps feed a mighty oak, the oak drops many acorns spawning a whole new generation of oaks. The drop supports the trout population giving the black bear sustenance. No life task is too small or insignificant. As you flow down your river of life open your heart and mind so that you may discover your mission and leave your mark on the great map.