Sliding

I went to Tallulah Gorge and 

   hiked 

      down a treacherously,

          strenuous trail, 

               hopping 

                    lower and 

                         lower, 

                              from boulder 

                                   to boulder 

                                        until

reaching bottom  

          at

          Sliding Rock.  

                                        

Mustering up courage to take my turn on nature’s slide, 

I watched as each person approached the rock's crest and took the slippery plunge down—a hundred feet or more—into green deep waters.    

There were solo sliders, duos, and covies of six or more.  Some maneuvering carefully, so as not to fall, others slipping and tripping just to take their seat at the rock's top.  Some held hands high, others grasped tight against the current 

But eventually, each body—

          once gravity and moss and river took hold—

               surrendered fully to rush of white and incline of stone.  

One single slider with long red mermaid hair sat in Sukasana until breaking her meditation to hold her nose...

A litter of six look-alike siblings, aged seven to eighteen, scrambled to the top holding tank of swirling white water and one-by-one scuffled off the edge like a pistol firing:  one, two, three, four, five, six—oldest brother following last.  A quiet mom stood on the side tall and dry, knowing she was witnessing a memory for at least seven lifetimes...

God’s children expressing unique joy 

     and everyone splashing into deep.

                                                       

It was good to be a kid again—to play, to splash, to holler, to gulp river water laughing—knowing Someone Watching Over Me was near.

 

I will tell them, “God’s love can always be trusted, 

and His faithfulness lasts . . .” Psalm 89:2 (CEV)