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The Story of our lives

Think of yourself as a river, one which flows not through a
desert where the water might gather a little dust, detracting from
its purity, and not through flat land where the banks are beautiful
meadows filled with wild flowers, but rather this river, which is
you, flows through a dense and overgrown forest, where the trees grow
thick.

Dead leaves in large quantities, and all kinds of dirt and
debris, fall into the river of your life and are carried along by the
flowing water. The dead leaves symbolize the difficulties that life
presents us with -- the need to discipline our emotions, to develop
loving and creative relationships, our social interaction, relations
with other people, the various physical and psychological handicaps
and obstacles and tests and difficulties that we are confronted with
and which, if we overcome them, strengthen and purify us. Where there
are trees, where there is life, there are dead leaves. There are
many things which, like the dead leaves, "fall into" our lives
without our doing anything to attract them or draw them to us. So,
it might be said, the dead leaves are utterly innocent. It is in the
nature of life that leaves should fall into the river and be carried
away by the flowing water. The leaves also represent negative
thoughts. They come to us, but we are capable of letting them flow
away with the water of life. They cannot hurt us, and we are
blameless unless we cling to the evil thoughts, nourish them, and
then act upon them. When bad or destructive thoughts come, simply
let go of them, let them be carried away by the running water. If
the bad thought lingers, grows strong and thick as a dead branch, it
becomes a problem and is potentially harmful to you and to society.

God is responsible for our lives being like a river and having
to flow through the tangled forest, and we have to accept it and
realize that this is an example of His loving providence. If He had
wanted, he could have arranged that the lives of human beings flow
through flat land where no leaves would fall into the water, or He
could have arranged for us to be protected from falling leaves, and
if He had there would be no growth or challenge or realization of
spiritual potential.

As the river flows more deeply into the forest, dead branches
now fall into the water and, being twisted and gnarled, they get
stuck in the riverbed. And as they accumulate, the progress of the
water is impeded. The leaves collect in masses, sticking to the
branches. More and more accumulate until a barrier results, a dam is
built, and the riverbed is clogged. After a time, the water cannot
reach its destination, flowing swiftly and clearly, but instead
divides itself into two channels, left and right, which trickle and
sputter, with only a very little water arriving at its destination.
The destination of the water, our lives, is the realization of our
full human and spiritual potential, the development of those gifts
and attributes which God has deposited in us, and ultimately the
attainment of eternal life. Where does the river of life flow but
into the Most Great Ocean? The trickling water depicts the depletion
of our mental and spiritual powers, our increasing weakness to assume
responsibility for our own development, our inability to flow freely
in the riverbed of life. The branches, it could be said, are
prejudice, selfishness, shortcomings of all kinds, pride, arrogance,
neglect of responsibility, forgetfulness of spiritual duty, suspicion
and mistrust, to mention but a few. It is our punishment that the
water flows, but loses sight of its destination, and is incapble of
reaching it.

What can be done about the dam? Expressed briefly, "We can give
it a good kick." In other words, we can dismantle the obstacle that
is interfering with the flowing of our river by administering the
"kick" of firm resolution, determination, prayer, meditation,
obedience to the laws, service, and teaching. We know how vital
teaching is for spiritual health. By bringing our lives into
alignment with the teachings of Baha'u'llah, the river of our life
flows swiftly and smoothly, the water clear and sparkling and pure,
and capable of carrying away all the leaves and debris that are
encountered in the normal course of living. When we destroy the dam,
the water flows again. Our troubles begin if we do not tear down the
dam, for the accumulation of the negative elements that comprise it
will find expression in destructive deeds harmful to ourselves and
others. It is the purity of the water of our lives that attracts
other to us, and which enables us to spiritually nourish them.

Life will be a process of building up and tearing down dams.
This is the story of our lives.

by Mr. Ali Nakhjavani