Thinking back to the conversations that I have had in the last few days with a friend, it seems like life hasn’t turned out exactly as either one of us expected. But as I think about it I am reminded of all the streams that drain their waters into the ocean each day. As each stream flows closer to the ocean it is filled with great expectations. This stream says excitedly to itself, “my water is very clear and so I will clean up the whole ocean!”, only to find that the ocean water is cloudy from violent waves and it becomes contaminated. Another stream haughtily says to itself, “my water is fresh and I will take freshness wherever I go”, and it gets into the ocean and its water immediately turns salty. Another one has known filth all its life and dejectedly believes that it will contaminate the whole ocean, until its water is sanitized and it knows cleanliness for the first time. And yet another has painfully tumbled down hills and gorges and has never known peace until it encounters the gentle lull of the ocean.

Each person that goes out into the sea of life has different expectations until he or she encounters the world of people and mixes up with them, sometimes with highly unexpected results. So, do we cry for the purity that used to be? For the innocence that was lost? Or do we curse the callous that was developed? Just as the stream should embrace the new reality of a fathomless sea with diverse waters from a million streams, so should we embrace the strange world that we sometimes find ourselves in.