I took a dive off that dock.
Jumped off the rigid, stable pier
Of the one true religion.
Waited on it long enough,
Sometimes dipping my toe in wondering what’s out there.
Hearing the waves from who knows where, lapping at the foundations.
But I couldn’t remain an onlooker anymore.
I couldn’t gaze out over the expanse at all the other dock grabbers
Each of us thinking ours was the only one,
While the depths swirled below.

So I dove.
I jumped in
Took a swim
And got wet.
Ocean all around.
In me through me above me below me.
Everywhere soaked.

I’m swimming in the ocean!
Treading water some days
Barely.
Surrounded by mystery and unearthly bodies
Coming up from below.
Sometimes threatening and sometimes to play.
Learning to swim, to float, to rest, to plunge.
Some days, a pirate with sail full, chasing down and taking over.
Some days, a monk in my coracle… being carried along by the wind and waves.
To the islands where the souls go.
Explorer, pilgrim, outcast, refugee, slave, stow away.
Mystery above and mystery below.

Oh and that current… that blessed divine current.
All ocean and yet all movement, too.
How she carries me,
How she draws me along to places I cannot imagine.
All magic, wonder, and miracles.
I am not alone.
There are others, my brothers and sisters, my kin, who also are allowing.
Allowing themselves to be carried in that blessed flow.
So trustworthy, so reassuring, and so strong.
How could I have ever known, back on the shore?
How could I have ever possibly fathomed the vastness
Of these moving waters?

Gratitude, love, and trust.
I could live my life making offerings
And never come close to balancing the gifts I am given every moment.
Anjali.
Thank you.