Alone I walked the banks of the river until I came to the water’s edge.

In the mist there before me was the tallest man I’d ever seen.

I blinked and there he remained.

I took a step back and he motioned me forward with outstretched hands.

I softened and he reached out his hands holding out two large bags.

What is this I asked?

“Sweet child,” whispered the man, “These bags represent what you are already carrying.”

“The first is your own pain and life troubles and the second is the heaviness of others.”

I laughed and then cried.

“What do you want me to do with those heavy bags?”

The stranger smiled, and when he did, he was no stranger.

Walk the banks and come back here and we will talk.

I shrugged and grabbed the heavy bags and turned on my heels to walk with what represented what I was already carrying.

This is a dream, I said out loud, a lucid dream, or I’m going mad.

The man started whistling and my heart fluttered.

I was angry and tired and frustrated with my path in life and so I walked on and I did as the stranger instructed.

I walked the entire bank of the river and back and there I stopped sinking down, falling to my knees.

The tears streamed as I looked into the face of love.

“Are you ready ?” asked an angel, for now I was aware this tall man was no man but a heavenly being asking me if I was ready to surrender my pain.

The tears flowed and my body softened.

“I don’t know?” I replied.

“You can start slow and release a little at a time whispered my angel.”

The time is now, I thought and uttered this out loud.

I held both bags, my own pain and the weight of others, and I released one rock at a time from the bag and felt lighter and lighter. It became easier with each rock.

After the bags were completely empty, I once again fell to my knees for I was completely unburdened.

I looked up and saw only sky and stars and I knew that my life was renewed by the grace of God by the water’s edge.

I was held by the hands of God and life and love flowed.

By the water’s edge God spoke to me, and for the first time in my life—I listened.

~