Tuned into the river, watching the movement, the birds, the dolphins, feeling the flow of the wide expanse, and close by watching tiny fish, and insects.

This is not just a casual visit, it is purposeful.  A group of people suffering, yes suffering, from aloneness.

I take them to my river, a river that 'squillions' of years ago I flooded with my tears, tears of sadness, passion, heartache, mourning, deep sorrow, disconnectedness, bereft and so many feelings that have no words.

On this day, the ocean was too deep, the desert too vast, the mountains too high and valleys too cold. The river is edged, contained, and has direction in response to nature's law.   Inquisitive pelicans come close and paddle off again, ducks, swans, and birds. Through the silence a blow of watery air as dolphins connect to our presence. The breath of humans in a rowing eight canoe, cut the water in precision timing, transporting our thoughts to focus, order, rhythm - mental, physical, connectedness.

 They pass and we are again alone with nature's law, nature's lessons. I hear a sob and then another as tears of today join the tears of yesterday, yesteryear and all the times, the ancestors, and then a silence. I feel the energy of the First Nation's women bathing, fishing, talking in a language I don’t understand but feel welcome to be with…so many stories. 

And in our presence, the physically blind one asked, "Did anyone feel the energy of the grandmothers'?" Tears of gratitude brim across my eyelids.

 Connection is what the human spirit craves.

Connected we feel more present, a sense of belonging.  Belonging to the “more”.

Spirituality is characterised by ever-present connectedness to oneself, to nature and is fully transcendent. This connectedness reduces stress and allows us to be at peace.

Each river seeks its passage to the sea.

Each seedling pushes sunward through the sod,

I wonder why to mortals it could be…

So difficult to find their way to God.

Sylvia Marina