We Are the River

I stood by the Sturgeon River this morning.  It is a small river that flows into Sturgeon Bay which is part of Georgian Bay.  The part of the river that I was standing beside has lots of rocks in it, creating very low white water. 

The Sturgeon River as it flows through the Simcoe County Forest

I started looking for the through lines as if the river were big enough to raft on (which it is not).  When you are river rafting, you have to look for the through line.  If you stare at the obstacles, then you will hit them.  So, you have to look for the way through.  I have heard this metaphor used recently to describe how to get through this time.

I noticed that some of the water crashed right into the rocks, creating foam and oxygenating the water.  Some of the water slid between the rocks and traveled very fast.  Just outside of the mainstream, was another set of through lines for water that moved more slowly.   And then some of the water headed to the banks of the river and slowed right down.  Some got caught up in circular eddies, some in shallow pools and some trickled through smaller rocks.  There were many through lines and many speeds.

I thought about how we are all dealing with this pandemic.  Some are crashing into it head on and perhaps are dying.  Some are getting swept past the rocks and surviving. Some are out there on the front lines moving very fast and finding their own through lines.  Some are quietly showing up to essential services and finding their way through. Some are getting out of the mainstream and waiting it out, slowing moving along without too much drama and making room by getting out of the way.  

What I learned from the river is that the water in different areas of the river, travels in different ways.  But it is all the river and the water is all moving and getting to the mouth before becoming lake water.  Even the slow water by the banks gets there.  In fact if there was very fast water at the river bank, the soil would erode and make it hard for the fish.  It's just the way it is.

We are all a part of the river even if we’re moving at different speeds.  We are all getting through this in different ways.  And I think we have to just trust that that is the way it is and realize that we are all the river.