Looking Back to 2005: The River Flows

The River Flows
Original post date: April 3, 2005

It's been a difficult week for many. First, Terri Schiavo finally found peace and now Pope John Paul II has left behind the physical world. It should cause each of us to take pause as we contemplate life in the face of death.

From a Taoist perspective, life and death are two sides of the same coin. As with the yin-yang symbol, both flow seamlessly into the other.

Life would hold no meaning were it not for death and death would be hollow without a full understanding of life.

It's like a flowing river...

What begins as a drop of rain, eventually finds its way into the river of life. The water flows through forests and fields. Sometimes the river is wide and, at other times, the river is narrow. Sometimes the water flows quickly. Sometimes it flows slowly. Ultimately, that little rain drop -- which is now indistinguishable from the river itself -- travels all the way to the sea.

In time, it evaporates and returns to the sky, only to merge with others to fall back upon the land to begin the cycle anew.

Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II are two of the many raindrops. One day each of us will be as a raindrop.

Who is to say which represents life and death -- forming as clouds in the sky or falling upon the earth? Regardless of a person's beliefs, no one genuinely knows that answer.

All we do know is that the river flows...

To read the intro to this retrospective series of posts, go here.