More Metaphors from Nature

While we were camping in the Rocky Mountain National Park, I walked by a sign that said, “A River No More”. I stopped and read the sign and it explained that right in front of me was a riverbed that had held a river that had been flowing for 1000 years. I could see the dry riverbed that now had trees growing up through it and grass covering the bottoms. There was no water. One day in 1982 a dam for a lake upstream burst, causing a huge flood. Huge boulders and trees and all kinds of debris were sent downstream, diverting the path of this river in a completely different direction, so after 1000 years of life repeating itself the same way day after day, a single day’s events changed the entire existence of the river.

It made me think how easy it is for us to get comfortable in our own lives, taking for granted all of the little things like taking the kids to school, going grocery shopping, going to work, watching television, day after day. It all seems so commonplace and easy but we never know when some huge event or maybe even a small event can completely change the course of our lives. Obviously our lives have been changed a lot this last year and we’re now on a course that I don’t think we ever would have guessed. But no one really knows when you’re going to get laid off or your job may become obsolete. You may have sickness or an injury that prevents you from doing things in a normal, everyday way. Or a death that can change the everyday things we take for granted and put us on a whole new course, just like the river.
Okay, maybe I’m thinking a little bit too deeply these days. Let’s just all try to have fun and be happy.