A Life That Flows

A Life That Flows

by David Beers

I had a vision the other day:

Looking down upon my life

From high above

A four-dimensional view.

A river with beginning and end,

From mountain top to delta plain,

Years of life captured in that picture

Life’s journey in its span.

It made me think about my life

And how we view our time,

For at each moment we feel

That our life is a straight line.

As with that river, we all begin

High on a mountain top,

Meeting snow, gurgling spring

Quickly coalescing into a stream.

Fast down the descent

We race, full of energy and power,

Feeling a force like gravity

That compels us to onward flow.

Sometimes we reach the valley floor

With calm and gentle grace,

While others fall from rocky cliffs—

Early trauma to be faced.

And as life goes, so does the stream,

Moving ever downward

Never thinking where we’re going,

Nor pondering the aftermath.

Time’s banks are carved by our passing,

Shaping the reality of our world,

Whether at a calm, peaceful pace

Or over rapids—life’s bumpy ride.

And as we go along,

Other streams and rivers merge,

Expanding us, transforming us,

Making us more than we were before.

We expand so much

That we move with silent grace

The passion of the mountain stream

Just a distant memory.

And towards the end of our river’s flow,

We branch out to carry us closer

A delta of memory and legacy

Until we reunite with the great ocean.

The ocean that was our ancient source,

As we rose from there,

Through wind and cloud we lifted high

To fall as rain and snow upon a mountain.

And once again, we rise and fall

An eternal cycle through the ages,

A journey, one day at a time:

Infinity in stages.