Life is a series of small happenings, and some of us are keen to see meaning in whatever is going on in their world. Sometimes coincidence is beneficial, even magical, other times all we are left with is that accidents happen. Some will argue that there is a grand plan and a meaning to all our lives that goes beyond our understanding, which doesn’t help if problems look like mountains that we could never climb.
I have had my own share of difficulties over the years, and I have learned that they are usually only temporary. Things heal, circumstances change. At work I have stopped trying to push the river. I have stepped out of the stream and simply try and pull people and things out of its way. You can shout at a river, really lose it, but it will go on its way regardless and arrive at the sea with or without your help.
The other week I learned that an old friend of mine who had been living and working in the USA for the last seventeen years, was making a visit to the UK with his family. There were posts on Facebook letting us know their movements and I juggled and wondered whether or not to drive the six hour round trip to say ‘hi’. I mean, it had to be easier than crossing the Atlantic, right?
On the day, I messaged my friend to check where he might be in the next week or two. It turned out that the very next day he would be just down the road in Glastonbury in Somerset. The family wanted to visit the Tor. The stars were aligned, the river flowed toward the bank upon which I stood.
The very next evening we were sipping cider together in the beer garden of the George and Pilgrim pub and talking about the here and now, the past and future…
A couple of days later and I ascend the Tor alone. The air was so clear I could see the reflection of the late afternoon sun on the Bristol Channel. Pale wisps of cloud circle overhead, tourists chatter and take selfies. It will be a while before I make the climb again. Part of me hopes I won’t have to wait seventeen years, but I cannot know where the river of time will take me…
14thcenturypoet 