Today I was talking with an old guy, and obviously the topic of the water came up.
He told me that “we have always flooded here in Tabasco.” “The people expected it and in fact they waited for it.” “The water would rise fast and it would flood everything for about 5 days, then it would go, but that water was clean and full of life.” “The people looked forward to this time as the waters were full of fish and they could eat like Kings, and the soil was better afterwards.” “Now the waters are full of rubbish and they just kill everything.” “The thing is nobody loves the rivers anymore.”
As I listened to this old guy I saw a man who loved his land and his people and showed a deep respect for the natural cycles of the land. In his heart he knew the River Goddess brought life to the land. He saw her cleansing power to renew the face of the land. He would never express it in those terms, but he was telling me that.
We finished talking and I was left with a deep sense of sadness of how we have lost touch with what really matters. We are so conditioned now to see things as resources to be taken and use, without thinking of our real relationship to them. We do it with the natural world and we do it with people.
The rivers need care and attention and then the rising waters will become a blessing once again. Even in the cleansing and destructive process there will be life and a blessing.
We know not everyone can go and clean the river or pressure the government to do the right thing, but following the old idea of the macro and micro cosmos, we can all ask how the rivers are flowing in my life. Am I giving them support, love and maintenance or am I just using them and leaving them to cope?
What are the life giving rivers in your life? For one your blood stream! Change your diet, clean your blood. Allow it to bring life once again. We can all do something about that river. Then what about the rivers of your relationships! Are they flowing with love and life or are the abandoned and overgrown? Is it time to give some maintenance to them? What about the river flowing through my community? Am I helping it or am I just opening my drains directly into it? How can I make my community a place of life?
Take time today and look at all the rivers that flow through your life and see how they can be maintained, and who knows if you have time and energy left maybe you can go to a real body of water and pick up some rubbish and make a small offering to the Goddess there and ask her to flow blessings into your life. Remember the Gods are always willing to exchange a gift for a gift, but remember sometimes water rushes in to cleanse the face of the land to bring new life. It can happen in your life too!!!
Are you ready for that??????