I’ve learned to hear the voice of rivers. When I tell others of this, there seems to be no end to the variety of facial expressions. Squinty eyes, sideways looks, eyebrows headed upstream on foreheads. No matter. During the time of life when my hair was still fair I heard only a voice but couldn’t discern the language…as far as I can tell, it’s a dialect as old as the earth. Over time and seasons of life along my journey, I visited the rivers often and I learned more of the language…single words at first, then phrases, then sentences and paragraphs…and finally beautiful stories that unfolded like magical sagas.
Did you know that all rivers speak? There are no exceptions…it’s universal. All of them speak in the old dialect. All of them know each other. All of them know the same timeless stories and all of them are master storytellers. What’s unique about their stories is that they are true. All rivers speak and they always tell the truth. Their words are clear and they are steady.
Did you know that we can all hear the voice of rivers? It’s a deep, primordial sensation that moves us at our core when we find ourselves along a river. It’s something that holds us fast and still…it’s something that freshens our senses and renews us. We’re naturally and easily drawn for some reason to the banks of rivers…for reasons that transcend thirst or hunger or transport or any other provision a river can offer…it’s as if there is another reason altogether and wholly separate from the pragmatic. I think I know what that reason is.
The stories the rivers tell are true and as I began to understand them, I realized that it was a certain seeking of truth I pursued. Truth about myself in relation to the world and others who inhabit the world. The more of these truths I learned, the more I wanted to be in the presence of the storyteller. The more I wanted to sit quietly on its banks or float along its length or immerse myself in its sure and steady embrace. I think that those who come to rivers do so seeking truth…even if they are unaware of that purpose in the early moments of journey.
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