Life is like a river.

At times we have the mountain-top experiences where cool and sparkling clear water bubbles out of smoothly worn stones or cascades down the steep rocky slopes into the pebble strewn brook below, where salmon hatcheries spawn their minute baby fish and eagles fly high. The rivulets come together to form tributaries and they in turn join to form the river. It flows through the thirsty land bringing urgently needed refreshment yet still it flows on and on to the river mouth. Here in contrast to the earlier convergence, it divides into multiple streams where it deposits nourishing silt into its delta region and finally delivers the precious cargo of fresh water and now stronger fish into the Waiting Ocean.

While there are times, precious moments of receiving, like the river our prime purpose is the delivery of that endowment in many and varied forms and in various places and while we know that in the ocean there are sharks and other dangers waiting to steal away the fruits of our work we still continue to produce, to deliver, to serve as we ourselves have been served.

The distraction is to live an unbalanced life by staying too long on the mountain-top or selfishly allowing the flow to dam up or foolishly trying to deliver without first being filled.

The challenge is to deliver with the same freshness that we received. To do this we must live dynamic, fast flowing lives, delivering and being filled often and regularly.

So what then is this precious sparkling invigorating liquid? Is it not knowledge, insight, wisdom and productivity or perhaps it is also more mysterious; sharing blessings with charisma, mutual respect and empathy?