Rivers flood their banks from time to time.  It’s destructive, but it’s the kind of destruction that brings important fertility to the surrounding land.  

People build levees in attempts to keep the river from overflowing its banks and wreaking havoc on the surrounding area, but unfortunately, building walls to try to contain the river, only causes the waters to run faster and more furiously.   The Mississippi river has overflowed its levees over and over again.  The government has supposed that the solution is to simply build bigger and bigger levees.   We tell ourselves that this is a worthwhile endeavor.  Money and time well spent. 

It creates land and spaces where people can live and grow crops and be productive.   We pat ourselves on the back for holding back the destructive flooding of the river and making spaces that are safe and productive. 

Aren’t we advanced and civilized?  Aren’t we powerful?  We can contain the mighty river.

We ignore the fact that the walls themselves give the river even more power.  Now when the river breaks its boundaries, rather than simply flooding unoccupied fields and enriching the soil; there are homes, and cities there.  And what was meant to create order and productivity leads to even greater amounts of destruction.

We are unable to accept what the river is.  The river, by nature will flood its banks.   That’s what rivers do.   To try to contain the river and tame it is to deny what is. 

To deny reality. 

To push our agenda for that space off on the river and off on nature itself.  

We might call this taming nature, but nature cannot be tamed.  Pushing it back will simply create an illusion of control that will break forth with a vengeance, causing even more destruction in the long run.  

The soul is the same. 

When we try to build walls around it, we may deceive ourselves in to thinking we have created space  where we can grow and be productive, but, the soul cannot be contained.  It will eventually overflow the walls we have built.  We might think the solution is to build bigger walls, but there is no end to the endeavor.   There is no wall high enough to contain reality, the reality of who we are.  The reality of our longings and desires.  And if they’ve been held back in such a way, they will burst forth and break down the walls we have built with the greatest of fury.  This kind of overflow won’t bring fertility, it will create more destruction.  Better to let the soul flow freely.  Sure – it will overflow its banks once in awhile. 

It will be messy. 

It will bring all kinds of fertility and new life your way. 

To comment click on the title of this post, “The Levee”