Perspective

For a few minutes today, I sat beside a rapidly flowing creek which was narrow enough that the younger version of me would have figured to be "jumpable."  The older version which is the current version opted for sitting and watching.  Strange as it might seem to some, it was in many ways the highlight of the day.  It was shady, cool, and, except for the sound of the water running over rocks, quiet.  It was an unexpected oasis of stillness in the early afternoon.  The water was clear and I had in my mind that I might see a fish which did not happen.   

What I did see were some things which reminded me of who I am and where I fit in the order of the creation. This tiny running stream is hundreds of miles away from the ocean; yet, the water that I watched will make it to the ocean and, perhaps, return in the clouds to water the dry ground upon which I sat.  I could not help but be reminded that we are connected to one another and to creation as surely as Wolf Creek is to the ocean.  Our being conscious of such a connection is not necessary for it to exist.  Not a single one of us is the center of the universe.  We are simply and importantly a part of it.  

It is interesting that the Creation story in the first chapter of Genesis does not begin with the human creature who has come to think far too highly of itself.  In fact were it not for the creative work of the first five days, we would not be walking around thinking that the world revolves around us.  Perspective is important.  I am grateful for a quiet moment in which once again the divine lesson of perspective was taught to me.