What Raft shall we choose?

“Your raft, the poet said, floats upon the sea of life. It drifts up with the tide, and down with the ebb. But the goddess is there. The goddess is always there.”

Indian poet Ramakrishma

I remember beach trips. We would take our rafts out into the ocean. We would lay on them “catching some rays” as we waited for the next wave to ride our way onto the shore. Laughter, giggles, high 5’s as we made our way back out into the ocean so we could do it again. No fear, just laughter and fun times. There was “we”!

And times came when the raft became a symbol for that which we hang on to so we aren’t overwhelmed by the vicious storms we find ourselves in. The hard part most of the time is discovering who or what becomes our raft.

Some choices will deflate as soon as we jump on. Maybe there was a weak part in the raft or maybe the raft was too small to hold our weight. Some choices just seem to have a slow leak and before we know it the air is completely gone and we are left out in the storm hanging on to that which cannot support us.

And then there are the choices that keep us afloat; that become a “life line” to survival. Those are the choices that “drift with the tide and down with the ebb.” Those are the choices that sometimes have us ride the current as we avoid the drowning riptide; sometimes have us wait for the storm to pass and sometimes has us point the raft right into the storm holding on for dear life.

Ramakrishma reminds us that no matter; the Goddess is there. She is there when we pass up Her Raft and choose one with a hole in it. She is there when our raft choice is Her. She is there to pick us up and wash the sand out of our eyes, She is there to replace the deflated raft; She is there to find us aimlessly floating with no direction.  

The Goddess is there. She is the Choice! And you know what? Her raft is free with no strings attached! She is the Raft!  There is “we”!

Blessed be!