The River: Chap 2 - Wonder | Story & Reflection

In Wonder, the journey continues as the narrator takes their first real encounter with the river, learning to let go of fear and move with its flow. Through playful and patient guidance from Silas, the narrator discovers that the river isn’t meant to be controlled—it is to be respected, felt, and experienced.

This chapter invites listeners to embrace vulnerability, awaken their senses, and connect to a force greater than themselves, opening the door to awe, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of the Source that flows through all of creation.

Background music by Liborio Conti.

Transcript

Welcome to The River,

A parable of the Holy Spirit.

My name is Judy and I am the author of this story.

I'm honored to walk alongside you here.

In this journey,

We'll meet Spirit,

The living creative pulse of the Divine that moves through all things.

Spirit is the source of all that is.

It flows within every cell of your body,

Weaves through every molecule in the world,

Lives inside every experience and hums within every person.

It's always present,

Always inviting,

Always guiding.

Before we enter the story,

Let's take a moment to center ourselves and listen.

Find a posture that feels natural and safe.

Close your eyes if that feels right.

Take a slow,

Deep breath in and let it drift out gently.

Let your shoulders soften,

Your jaw release.

Let your mind calm like still water.

Imagine yourself sitting on the soft edge of a riverbank.

Hear the water as it moves,

Subtle yet unstoppable.

Feel Spirit flowing around you,

Through you and within you,

Carrying a quiet readiness,

A soft openness.

You don't need to force anything.

Simply allow yourself to be here,

To receive,

To be present.

Let your heart and mind relax into the rhythm of this gentle current.

The river is ready.

Spirit is here.

And you are ready to meet them.

Let's begin.

I arrived at Wonder just before the sunset.

The sunset,

As always,

Was breathtaking,

But I was tired,

So I didn't stop to enjoy it.

I found a hotel and got a hot meal before stumbling to bed.

I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

The next morning,

A way too cheerful Silas sat down at my table as I ate breakfast.

You're ready to swim,

He said.

I'm ready to learn how to canoe,

I corrected.

Same thing,

He said,

Smiling as he helped himself to a piece of bacon from the plate at the middle of the table.

We'll see,

I thought as I looked possessively at the bacon.

He took me a short distance from town to where the river looped inland.

The water was mostly calm,

Though I could see a weak current.

Silas showed me a small log raft and pole.

That's not a canoe,

I said,

Looking at the raft accusingly.

The first thing you need to learn is not to be afraid of the river,

He said.

I want to learn how to canoe,

Not become an expert on the river,

I said,

Turning toward him.

I felt like he was trying to take advantage of me,

Disrespecting me by wasting my time,

And it made me angry.

Learning how to use a canoe here will only help you here,

Where the river runs gently.

Now you said you had a long journey ahead.

Do you think that all of the river runs calmly?

I had to pause a moment.

I realized he was right.

I'd seen the river run like thunder,

And now I could see it move like a whisper.

I needed to know how to navigate the river,

No matter how strong the flow.

I hated that he was right,

Because it meant that this was going to take longer and be harder than I had expected.

Fine,

I said.

He stepped onto the raft and held it in place with the pole as I stepped on.

The feel of being on the water wasn't what I expected.

I crouched down for a minute to lower my center of gravity and get my balance before slowly standing up.

You good?

He asked.

I nodded,

Still getting used to standing on something that was in constant motion.

He pushed out with the stick and the raft began to slowly move away from the bank.

I began to wish for something to hold on to.

When we were a little away from the bank,

Silas handed the pole to me.

I looked at it,

Unsure of what to do.

The river isn't very deep here,

He said.

The pole will reach all the way to the bottom.

Go ahead and try.

I stuck the pole into the ground beneath the river and pushed.

The raft began to move away from the pole,

Slowly at first,

And then suddenly,

Much faster than I expected.

I pulled at the pole,

But it remained firmly planted in the ground.

I panicked seconds before I fell into the water,

Still trying to hold on to the pole.

When I came to the surface of the water,

I could hear Silas laughing.

I looked around and saw his head floating next to mine,

A huge grin on his face.

Consider yourself broken in,

He said.

At first,

I was embarrassed,

But I could hear that he wasn't making fun of me as much as enjoying an unexpected swim.

In a few seconds,

I was laughing at myself.

He looked around and saw the raft floating a few feet away,

The pole still standing straight,

Stuck fast.

He swam over to the raft and climbed on board.

Using his hands,

He paddled the raft to the pole and used it to hold the raft steady while I climbed on.

Thankfully,

It was warm and we were quickly dry.

I don't understand what happened,

I said.

I mean,

The pole wouldn't come unstuck and I didn't know what to do.

He nodded in understanding.

The river is always moving.

That's important to remember because it's easy to forget.

Anything that insists on staying put is going to have a problem and is going to get you in trouble.

Since the river is always moving,

If you want to stay afloat,

You have to always be moving too.

Many people,

When first learning to ride the river,

Run into problems trying to enforce stability onto the river.

They try to make the river into something that doesn't move,

Then they get wet.

He said the last part laughing and I joined in.

To be honest,

I was relieved to know that I wasn't alone in my surprise bath.

It made me feel better to know that others had experienced the same failure and still gone on to be successful.

So,

How do I do this?

I asked him.

Remember,

This lesson is on how not to be afraid of the river.

My goal isn't so much to teach you how to pull a pole from the ground as to be fearless.

Do you remember how it felt when you went into the water?

I nodded.

How did you get to the surface?

He continued.

I stopped trying to hold on to the pole and swam to the surface.

Did you?

Or did you just stop struggling altogether?

I guess I just stopped struggling and then I was at the surface.

The current isn't very strong here,

So there's nothing to pull you under.

Once you stop struggling,

You float to the surface naturally.

The river doesn't want to drown you,

It just wants to be respected.

It's to your advantage when the river is respected.

The river doesn't need to be feared,

Avoided,

Or controlled.

You just need to respect it and its unstoppable flow.

I nodded,

Thinking that I understood even though I didn't really.

He handed me the pole again.

This time,

Don't try to force the river to be stable.

Move your pole with you,

Little by little.

I put the pole lightly on the ground beneath the river and nudged the raft,

Not allowing the pole to dig into the ground.

The raft moved.

I picked up the pole and did it again.

The more I moved with the current,

The easier it became.

I started having fun with it,

Scooting the raft back and forth on the water's surface.

I was starting to get the hang of it.

Stop for a moment,

Silas said.

I pulled the raft to a stop.

Lift the pole off the ground.

I did.

Do you feel it?

Feel what?

I went through the list of things I thought he could mean.

The ground,

The raft,

The wind,

Etc.

The river,

He said.

I looked down at the water,

Confused,

Thinking maybe he wanted me to scoop out a handful.

Okay,

Let's try this.

He said,

Close your eyes.

I closed my eyes.

Do you feel the river?

He asked.

My world narrowed to three senses.

Touch,

Smell,

And sound.

I could hear the water lapping against the raft.

I could hear the birds in the distance.

I could smell the water,

And I could feel.

.

.

Oh my,

I could feel the river.

I could feel it beneath me,

Beneath the raft.

I could feel the current as it moved.

It almost felt like a living thing,

Moving and breathing beneath me.

My eyes shot open in surprise and wonder.

Silas was looking at me,

An expectant smile on his face.

Now you know why this town is called Wonder,

He said.

This is where people first really encounter the river.

Where they first experience it personally,

Instead of seeing it from afar.

It's where their eyes are opened to a force bigger than themselves.

For some,

The experience makes them feel small and unable to control their environment,

And that's scary.

They run as far and as fast as they can.

For others,

It makes them feel small and they realize that they can connect to something bigger than themselves.

They want more.

They feel the heartbeat of the source and a hunger is stirred inside of them that can't be satisfied with anything else.

I had to be honest with myself.

I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

I could see both sides.

That's enough for one day,

He said.

Take us in.

Silas pointed to the shore.

I maneuvered the raft to the shore.

We'll leave the raft here,

He said,

Tying it to a tree.

It belongs to one of the families in town and I don't want it to get lost.

Since it was just afternoon,

I invited him to eat lunch with me.

Oh,

I'd love to,

But I have a delivery for this afternoon,

He said,

Pointing a little further up the bank,

Where I could see his canoe nestled in the high grass.

I promise.

If you decide to continue your journey by following the river,

We'll meet again.

He smiled at me as he turned toward his own canoe.

Walking back to wonder alone,

I thought about the river,

And now I had felt like it was alive.

I wasn't sure if that was just my imagination or whether it really was alive,

But I couldn't help but wonder.

If the river flowed with the heartbeat of the Source,

What was the Source?

What could possibly have a heart so big and powerful that its heartbeat could feed all of creation?

If such a thing existed,

Could I afford not to know it?

Most importantly,

Could I live with not knowing?

Sometimes,

It takes falling in to realize that the river was never trying to drown us.

It was trying to teach us how to float.

In wonder,

The river stopped being an idea and became something alive,

Something felt,

Something real.

It asked for respect,

Not control,

For presence,

Not fear.

As you rest here for a moment,

Let yourself breathe into that same stillness and consider where in your life are you still clinging to the pole,

Trying to keep things steady when the current is asking you to move?

When was the last time you stopped struggling and found yourself floating instead?

How do you respond when you begin to feel the aliveness beneath everything?

Do you tense or do you open?

And what might awaken in you if you truly believed that the heartbeat of the Source flows through you too?

If this story spoke to you,

I'd love to hear what stirred inside you as you listened.

Your reflections in the comments help this river of understanding flow farther.

And if you'd like to help keep the river moving,

You can tap follow.

Every bit of support helps this work reach more hearts,

And it means more than you know.

Until next time,

May you stay curious,

May you move with the current,

And may you find your own moment of wonder along the river's edge.